A Smile On My Face
by Giraffe on the Moon
Summary: Reno and Rude from the beginning, covering the Wutai War and their transformation into formidable Turks. M for grisly themes and violence.
1. New Toy

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 1: New Toy

"How fast do you think it'll go?" asked one boy peering at a gauge on a motorcycle. His pale face was streaked with oil while his hands twisted a wrench nervously. "I did the best I could but I'm not much of a rider…I just know how it gets put together. How fast do you think, Jay?"

"Cool it Cam," the red head grinned, his hair shaved back into a Mohawk. His stormy eyes ran over the bike as he set a rough hand down on the seat. "She'll go plenty fast. This baby's Shin-Ra made, ain't she?"

"Best parts I've ever seen. Ain't been nothin' like her 'till now," Cam nodded eagerly. He was small but upon closer inspection he looked to be right about Jay's age, maybe fifteen or so.

"Good thing Jay ain't scared a' Shin-Ra. This baby'll rake in the doe." A third boy, also red headed, jumped spryly into the seat. He was younger, probably only eight, missing his last baby tooth in a wild smile. It left a pink gap where his tongue pressed through, filling up the absent space on the upper left side of his jaw. "Ain't scared, are ya Jay?" he taunted.

"'Course I ain't," Jay replied shoving the boy off the bike. "Now get outta the way Reno or I'll scalp ya and put that pretty red hair on as a streamer."

"That'd make you a fairy," Reno wrinkled his nose smiling hugely. Both red heads were lean, Reno bordering on scrawny.

"Shaddap. You scout out the competition like I told ya? See Gordon or Eden out there?" Jay demanded.

"Seen 'em both," Reno nodded sauntering up to Cam and holding out a couple of tickets. "I went double or nothing like you said. Watch it though. There's soma them bright eyes out there tonight. Think they'll know her?" Reno knocked on the front column of the bike and Jay's smile widened.

"Those knuckleheads won't get a chance to see her she'll be so fast," Jay smirked. Reno wasn't so sure, scowling contemplatively at the airbrushed flames and skulls scattered over the military bike. He'd had a weird feeling about the bright eyed man from which they'd stolen the bike.

"Ain't nuthin' to it kid," Jay sneered pulling up the goggles over his eyes. "They can't do nuthin' if they can't catch me. This here is a secret so I bet not even _they_ know about her. Hell, might sell her off to one of the bone heads for a handy profit too. Gets us outta hot water."

"What if they come lookin'?" Reno demanded.

"They can't find nuthin' down here in the slums that don't wanna be found," Jay answered.

"Your kid brother's such a whiner Jay. Why'd we bring him again?" Cam snorted examining the tickets Reno had given him.

"He's a sweet talker and that Cassie likes him. You know, the gal runnin' the tickets," Jay explained swinging a leg over the bike. His new skull tattoo stood out on his shoulder, bright and tender from finishing it this morning. Reno couldn't help the feeling of foreboding.

"I don't think you should go," he voiced and Cam knocked him upside the head.

"Ain't gonna be no troubles if we do her right," he said. "And you better stuff yer noise hole or we're gonna get caught," he added. Reno glowered up at Cam, his brother's eternal partner in crime, while rubbing his injured head.

"Don't be such a girl Reno. Y'ain't never gonna get anywhere with a face like that. People'll always know what yer thinkin'. Stuff it under that smile ya got for Cassie," Jay mocked.

"Reno likes Cassie? The ticket hooker? That's Dane's territory. You better watch yerself Romeo," Cam laughed punching Reno.

"She ain't a hooker," Reno argued shoving Cam. Cam shoved back and the smaller boy hit the exhaust pipes on the new bike.

"Watch it," Jay warned kicking the bike into life. It roared angrily scaring Reno and making him shy away. Rumbling in a loud purr the engine idled comfortably while Jay's face split in two. "Smooth as silk Cam. Too bad you're too scared to ride her."

Cam and Jay fell into posturing and haranguing as Reno's eyes swept the lot around them. It was choked and noisy, filled with bikes and people. There was always lots of noise out here in the scrap yards, surrounded by the greasy iron cast offs of Midgar's upper crust living on the upper plate.

Reno examined the curious looks Jay got and saw the gossip and excitement spread like some of the Mako leaks that could poison entire sectors. That had happened over in sector three just two years ago. Reno didn't remember much about it, only that there'd been a big to do about the whole thing and his parents had been at the forefront of the protests against the Shin-Ra. That's why he and his brother were here now, sent off to the work houses in sector six after mom and dad had been carted away for terrorist activities.

That aside Reno felt an unusual friction in the air. He spied one of the men with glowing eyes passing by them, looking over the bike like he was getting ready to fight. It looked like the man recognized the design but he didn't give in one way or the other.

Jay pulled away before Reno could say anything else. He took off down the cleared dirt ground, shouting for people to move. Cam loafed off to get better seats but Reno was determined to catch up with the gossip, determined to find out about the men with glowing eyes.

He slunk though the bikes, grateful he was small and unnoticeable. People didn't look twice at him and let him scramble between them and around their bikes or cars. He listened in but heard only the boasts and gloating of the racers trying to impress girls, punctured with threats and occasional blows.

"You sonova!" someone shouted curling their arm around in a vicious jab. Reno skid to a halt, hopping backwards as a burly skin head slammed into the ground, blood oozing from a split lip and broken nose. He spit out gravel and teeth, shoved himself up, and wheeled on the angular biker who'd knocked his teeth loose. Reno back pedaled and left them to it as the angular kid struck an old blue racer, denting the side of it.

"Hey puke! That's my car!" a bearded man in leather snarled, studs protruding all over his face. He slid across the hood and jammed a boot into the angular boy's face while crashing his skull into the burly one. Reno had seen brawls like this before and didn't care to get sucked in with the surge of a crowd. The bouncers would be by soon to break it up anyway not wanting to attract attention from any sort of police, secret or otherwise.

He shouldered past the excitable populace wishing he _could_ stay and watch a good brawl, but more interested in finding the bright eyed pow-wow. He clamored between groupings until at last he came upon the men with glowing eyes, all of them lined up silently, leaning against their military issued bikes. They were impressive motorcycles Reno admitted. Not as flashy as the one Cam had refitted and customized but they seemed to ooze prestige and superiority.

All the men present were somewhere in their twenties, none in uniform, but all seasoned veterans by the looks of them. They had a dangerous way about them, something in how their eyes took in the surroundings or how their soft spoken words were directed only at each other. Without getting in closer he'd never hear anything. He took a cautious step forward and five pairs of razor sharp eyes landed on him. They were eyes without feeling or remorse and he felt a growing sense of hostility directed at him. What had Jay said?

"You guys gonna kill me for curiosity?" he smiled recalling that Jay had told him to hide his feelings under his charming grin. "That against yer Shin-Ra rule book too?"

"You're the kid with the punk who's got a fancy new bike," said the brunette who had been examining Jay earlier.

"Came to see the competition," Reno shrugged his shoulders innocently. "I wanted a good show. So whattya call these things?" he sauntered up, ignoring the wolf gazes penetrating him. He was scared clear through, down to his bones, but he wouldn't let that stop him.

"This model's the Anthem," replied a different man, this one with glowing brown eyes and an auburn burr of hair. Reno approached him as he seemed the most conversational.

"That like a national anthem?" Reno drawled looking the bike over. "Clunkers ain't they? I mean Anthems are like…three years old. Don't they have somethin' new?"

"These ones are the most reliable and versatile. New ones are faster, but these handle the most terrain. That's what you need in a battle," the man answered. Reno nodded recalling just how often he used the terrain to his advantage in dog fights in the back alleys. It made sense he supposed.

"So you guys are soldiers huh? What's with those glowy eyes? Is it like some mercenary club or something?" Reno asked inviting himself to hop up onto the bike beside the auburn haired man leaning against it. The soldier glanced at his friends, conveying some sort of message, while Reno made himself comfortable. He was beginning to fool himself out of being scared.

"We're military, boy," the auburn haired man said. "New division being formed up, one called SOLDIER."

"Soldier huh? That's a way original name. I'd join the Fenrirs myself," Reno said swinging his legs. "So what's special about being a Soldier, huh?"

"We do all the thing the Fenrirs are afraid to do," the auburn smirked.

"Like laundry? Cooking?" Reno jibed and the Soldiers laughed. "Hey, god only knows how bad those Fenrirs smell after climbing out of whatever Hell Hole they just owned. I'd be scared too."

"You'll hear about us soon enough runt," the auburn headed one said smiling in spite of himself. "Aren't you a little scrawny to join up with the Fenrirs?"

"I got my aces," Reno assured him and more laughter ringed him.

"You got spunk kid," a blonde Soldier smiled, gray-green eyes crinkled at the edges. "What's a smart punk like you doin' down here in these god forsaken slums?"

"Ain't been much else since the Shin-Ra kicked up and got goin'. I remember when there were skies over sector three," Reno retorted, perching his heels on the exhaust pipe, balancing his elbows on his knees, and thumbing his nose. "Gotta get what I can."

"Shin-Ra could use a smart kid like you, you know? Those Turks are always lookin' for smart kids," the blonde suggested. "Pay pretty well from what I hear."

"I ain't interested in hand outs," Reno answered surprised by his own honesty. "One day I'm gonna make it big, all the way up to the Plates."

"Everybody's gotta have his dreams. You got a better shot of becomin' a Fenrir, slim Jim," the blonde laughed.

"Smart kid could probably claw his way up to the Plates," the auburn headed soldier replied. His luminescent eyes ran up and down Reno, gauging him. "Face like that could keep all sorts of secrets, couldn't you boy? Bet you don't mind a little grit either."

"Smart kid wouldn't fess up," Reno answered. The auburn Soldier cracked a toothy grin, letting it spread across his clean shaven face and bring out the dimples in his cheeks, while the others whistled and laughed.

"You claw your way up on the wrong side of Shin-Ra and the Turks will come for you. Claw your way up on the right side and they'll give you anything you ever wanted. What're they saying about Shin-Ra down here anyway?"

"What? Can't imagine what poor garbage-eaters say 'bout the rich garbage-makers?" Reno taunted.

"And what do you say about the Shin-Ra?"

"A smart kid would say they give us power and technology, make our lives easier," Reno answered.

"Smart kid," the auburn Soldier smirked. He pulled his goggles up over his head and dropped them around Reno's neck. They hung heavily down on Reno's chest and he lifted them for inspection. They were plain, already well worn.

"What're these for?"

"You'll need 'em for what you're planning," the auburn Soldier answered. "Your eyes will be your best weapon. You'd better keep them safe." He plunked them down on Reno's face and adjusted the band behind so they held fast. Afterwards he swiped Reno off his bike and swung into the seat. The other Soldiers were already pulling ahead.

"You done with your little heart-to-heart?" called another Soldier, his gray-streaked hair standing out.

"Why? You jealous for the attention?" the auburn asked. He smirked and tossed a last glance at Reno who stood out of the way as the Anthem roared into life. "Grit, kid. I'd wish you luck but you need grit."

"Grit huh?" Reno mumbled watching the man pull away, wearing the gifted goggles that had been adjusted to his skull. Shaking his head he decided these men weren't up to no good and made his way towards the small betting booth carved out of scrap metal.

Cassie sat on her bent up old stool, her chin perched on her rough fingers. She was a good looking girl, painted too brightly in makeup with blonde curls cropped around her heart-shaped face. She dressed in a worn out pink dress, the double buttons meant to look elegant except for the cheap gold paint chipping off of them. She always smelled like cheap perfume and expensive cigarettes and always had her three inch heels kicked off at work. She leaned against the rotten tin that served as a counter, the green accountant's visor shading her baby blue eyes.

"Hey there Landon," she smiled using his first name. Cassie was the only one who called him by his first name, the name he hated. But somehow when Cassie said it he didn't mind as much.

"At least don't say it so loud," he glowered.

"What's that you've got there? You already off to the races? You're barely eight aren't you?"

"Almost nine," he corrected her, touching the goggles absently.

"I always forget with that cute little face of yours," Cassie smiled sliding her ash tray out of the way as Reno vaulted onto her counter for a seat. There was a good view of the races from here and Cassie always saved his spot.

"I'm not cute," he argued, flustered and worked up over the auburn Soldier's words. He'd need grit not _cute_.

"Oh, too proud to be cute now. Don't you know the ladies like a cute man more then a brute?"

"How would you know? You've got that Dane guy hangin' around all the time," Reno answered. Cassie just smiled at him.

"He ain't a brute, just so damn cute he looks like a brute."

"You know you could be a rapper,"

"Why's that?" Cassie offered him a cigarette while Reno fished in his dirty old cargo pants for a lighter. "Fancy light." He'd stolen it earlier today, picked it right out of a suit's pocket. Jay had said it was a fine catch while Cam just sneered that he should have swiped the wallet. Reno's defense had been that he was more interested in the stylized lighter but it made his ears burn when Jay agreed that Reno's affinity for gleaming metals obscured his better judgment.

"You're rhyming."

"It's a sorry rapper who rhymes about being cute and a brute," Cassie smiled, watching Reno's new lighter flash sparks and a healthy flame. Reno's green eyes studied the shimmering flame as it lit the tip of his cigarette and drew in a deep breath. "I'll stick to scamming real rappers out of their hard earned cash."

"How's it looking tonight?"

"Great. I think those soldier boys will give most of the punks a run for their money. What's this I hear about your brother's new bike?"

"Beats me. I don't know much about it. That's Cam's baby," Reno shrugged, blowing out a plume of smoke. Cassie's Sol Sunburst cigarettes were always the best, a thousand times better then the crap Jay and Cam smoked. Sol Sunbursts were the only things he would smoke and only then once a week or so. He didn't have the money for them himself and Cassie couldn't spare much.

"You always try to sound so old when you talk Landon," Cassie snickered. "Better watch out or you won't be a kid anymore."

"The sooner the better," Reno sighed, smoke curling out of his nose. He leaned back against the wall as he and Cassie fell silent, both watching as the first races of the night began.

"Think you'll make any money?" Cassie asked.

"I hope. Kinda hungry y'know?"

"You're always hungry Lan," she pinched his thin arm and Reno only smirked.


	2. Teacher

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 2: Teacher

Reno only remembered sunlight vaguely; flashes of illumination on his mother's sun dress or the way it made the scales of the tattooed serpent on his father's arm come to life. Since the upper plates had been completed three years ago he had only seen the grimy filter of light from the gaping holes of construction or refurbishing of that dreamlike upper world. Since the sunlight had been blotted out and become a commodity of those with wealth and power he had grown accustomed to the electric street lamps blazing day and night and the faces of clocks dictating what could be an artificial time for all he knew.

Fire was a common occurrence too, great blazes leaping up in angry tongues when the biker gangs went at it. There were homemade fire bombs that crashed down like comets into warring turfs and occasionally someone would come across wayward Materia – which usually meant they had stolen it from the deliveries headed topside – and devastate a length of the townships. But Reno had not seen anything as brilliant as sunlight since he was five.

A body jarred past him as he swam through the surging crowd, scampering between stampeding legs. A studded belt split his lip as a leather-clad punk ran pas, and Reno was carried backwards for a second. Shaking himself back into his senses he struggled again to get through.

There was still the after burn of an explosion lingering in his eyes, painting colorful blotches wherever he looked. It had pierced clear through his sockets though he'd been looking at Cassie, turned away from the racing grounds.

"Move!" he grunted, an elbow catching his head. Colors burst into patterns overtop of the after burn images. He shook them off and kept going, scrambling upstream until finally the crowd gave way and he was overwhelmed by the waves of heat rolling away from the crash site. He stumbled into an abrupt halt, landing head over heels with one of his beat up tennis shoes against red hot iron.

"Jay!" he howled, yanking his foot back and scrambling up. Black smoke billowed upward, rising like the support pillars holding the upper plate aloft. Churning angrily the blaze was hard to look at, burning his eyes the way the sun had all those years ago. "Jay! Please Jay! Say something!" A tongue of flame was the only answer, along with the moaning crumple of the metal frame. A dull thump went off as shrapnel threw itself out and upward, spiraling dangerously through the air. A shard struck the goggles on his face, cracking against the plastic lens.

Reno searched the site frantically, looking around the twisted bikes melded together by their own funeral pyres. He wanted some sign, some piece of evidence that his brother was okay. He circled first one direction around the blaze, hunting even inside for closure, then back around the other direction. He had circumnavigated the crash site four and a half times before he caught sight of a tendril of red liquid seeping from one of the rusted and broken train cars.

His heart gave a leap. Jay had to be over there, not swallowed up in that mess of fire and metal. He ran past the wreckage and climbed into the train car, blown open some time before by a robber or gang fight. He scraped his knees and cut his palms along the jagged metal, grinding old rust into the open wounds as he scrabbled in.

"Jay! Jay are you in here?" Reno craned his head around, searching the erratic shadows leaping up and down the rusty walls and decaying benches with shredded upholstery. It took him little more then ten seconds to find a mangled rag doll of what had been a human, and only one more second to scramble to its side. In the irregular lighting Reno searched the broken flesh and jutting bones for life, despairing and hoping all at once that he did not face his brother's corpse.

Tentatively he extended his hand and touched a spread of skin that looked more or less in tact. It was cooling and lifeless, clenched against the shock of death in frozen terror. He slid his fingers down the skin and felt the pucker of a tattoo. As his eyes followed he recognized the flaming skull, streaked with blood and torn wide open through the center. Jay's shattered frame came into sharp focus and Reno realized that he'd been flung from the bike when he had lost control and collided with another racer, sending them skittering off the track and slamming into the junk off-course. Angled passage through the train car's window and roof had killed him. Reno recognized now the snapped spine and torn gut along with the snapped protrusions of his rib cage and irregular angles of each appendage...or the two still connected.

Reno found his brother's hand and put it in his. He sat quietly in a reservoir of blood, the life deserting red pool that had bled enough to seep out of the numerous corroded holes of the train floor and drain towards the wreckage. He watched mutely as the burning bikes outside flashed over the carnage, playing off the white bones and painting warm, almost life-like hues on the pallid flesh.

At some point flashes of electronic blue and red punctured the darkness in staccato beats, irritating the strange dance of Jay's pyre and shadows. It took a moment for Reno's blank mind to grasp their meaning as he slowly struggled back into consciousness. It wasn't until he heard voices and the click of shoes on metal that he found something other then the grisly remains of his brother. A hand fell down on his shoulder and Reno watched the hard, angular face of a policeman as he spoke.

"Son, you hear me?" the cop asked and Reno just stared at him. The flashing lights over the cop's shoulder obscured his face and irritated Reno's eyes. His skin was cold now that the sharp shoulders and lean frame of the suit blocked him for the overwhelming heat of the bonfire, still blazing a decent height. "Come on boy, let's get you cleaned up and out of here," the cop said again, sliding his rough hands beneath Reno's arms. He hoisted Reno up, but Reno didn't let go of Jay's hand. Jay's fingers were curled around his too, frozen that way, like he didn't want to let his little brother go.

"I ain't leavin' Jay," Reno said to him absently. "Jay won't let me go," Reno looked at the cop who gave him a tug. There was a wet tear and pop, before Jay's arm swung and went lax. The loosed shoulder joint slapped at the cop's shin and Reno's face went pale. The cop swiftly perched Reno on his hip and in one deft tug removed the two linked hands.

"It's okay, son," the cop repeated. There was a ring on his left hand, the one that had pulled Reno and Jay apart, the boy noticed. "You're gonna be fine. We'll take good care of you." The cop swung around and jumped out of the car. Reno perched his head on the man's tough shoulder and watched as his brother vanished from his sight. He let his arms hang slack.

"Landon! Landon!" shouted a woman's voice. He didn't move from his hunched boxer hug around the cop. "Please! I know that boy! Landon!"

"Cassie," he looked up, turning towards her. Her hair was a mess, the green accountant's cap thrown off and her painted toes filthy after running barefoot to find him. She was huffing, hands on her knees, as her blue eyes shot around the scene.

"Landon!" she straightened and held her arms out, swiftly taking him from the policeman. "Oh Landon! You're alright!"

"You're the mother?" the cop asked.

"No, family friend," she corrected smoothing hair out of Reno's face and embracing him tightly. A button bit into his collar bone. "This here is Landon Reno and the boy who owned this bike was Jay Reno, his older brother," she explained as the cop put a hand on her back and motioned for her to head for a flashing truck. Reno was draped around her neck motionlessly as he watched the burning bikes begin to dwindle.

"I'll need to question you and the boy but let's get some patches on those cuts first," the cop suggested. Reno could feel the strain his weight put on Cassie as she heaved him back up and began walking. He allowed her to take three more steps as he emblazoned the image of the melting bikes and Jay into his mind.

"I c'n walk," he said suddenly, pushing away from Cassie. She looked like she wanted to protest but her spine and arms seemed to convince her out of it. She bent and put him on the ground, framing his cheeks in her hands.

"I am so sorry," she said and her bright red lips pressed against his cheek. He could smell the cigarettes on her breath and the perfume hanging about her neck. He felt the tension in her throat as she held him and knew that she wanted to cry. She had been friends with Jay since the first race here and they used to flirt when Dane wasn't nearby. At once Reno felt grown up and wanted to comfort her.

"It'll be okay, Cassie," he told her, lifting his bloody palms and pressing them against her shoulders. He gave the padded cloth and her slender arms a squeeze and she pulled back to look at him slightly confused. "We'll be okay," he lied, smiling for her. She had always liked his smile and it was the only thing he knew to do for her.

She nodded slowly. Straightening up she put a hand on Reno's shoulder and ushered him towards the truck. The cop had not interfered in the dealings but Reno could tell by the look in his gray eyes that he had watched the scene unfolding before him carefully.

"Hey there trooper," smiled a nurse with red-dyed hair when they came up on the open door of an ambulance. Reno smiled back. She reached out and took his hands in the softest fingers he'd ever felt. Her skin was pale and silky smooth, warm to the touch as she turned his hands palm up. "Looks like we can fix these back up," she assured him and moved to lift him. She was so small, only Cassie's height but softer of build by the looks of her gazelle like limbs.

"I can do it," Reno assured her still smiling. He jumped lightly up into the ambulance and sat where the light could fall on his hands. Cassie moved to follow him but the cop stopped her.

"Miss, if I might?" the cop asked, motioning her a few steps towards him. Cassie glanced at the nurse, who was already pulling on gloves and pulling out ointments, cleansers, gauze, and tape. Reno smiled at her reassuringly and turned to the nurse.

"That's quite a smile you've got," the nurse told him, her brown eyes accented by delicate black strokes of eyeliner and arched eye lashes. "You'll be a real looker when you grow up."

"I am grown up," Reno replied, his fingers twitching as she tipped some liquid onto his hands. He couldn't read the title but there was a stinging pain and foam as it met the wounds.

"You can't be more then eight, sweetheart. Don't be in such a rush," she chided with a cute little smirk. "Why would you be all grown up?"

"What do you mean? I'm plenty old enough to take care of him!" Cassie shouted suddenly. Reno looked towards the ruckus. "There is no way I'll let you send him off to one of those concentration camps!"

"Ma'am, I need you to calm down," the cop said.

"Calm down? Calm down! How can I be calm? Those 'workhouses' are right there next to the Mako plants! Children there slave and die of Mako poisoning or cancer or any number of strange diseases!" Cassie howled.

"Pay them no mind, sugar," the nurse cooed, capturing his attention again with another salvo of burning liquid. "You don't worry about anything. That's Officer Drake and he's known in the sector for his morals," she reassured him.

"You know anything about motorcycles?" Reno asked her.

"Why don't you tell me about them?" she suggested.

"My brother's was a new model," he indulged her. "That one he hit, it's a toy. It's old,"

"Oh yeah? What's your favorite kind?"

"That one he hit, it's called an Anthem," Reno ignored her question. "Did that rider make it?"

"They already took him out of here, so I don't know."

"Did he have brown hair? Was he missing his goggles?" Reno pressed, and she pursed her lips, trying to remember.

"Come to think of it, he did have brown hair, and his eyes seemed to glow. He seemed to be doing pretty well when they took him off. I just remember how bright his eyes were but I don't think he had any goggles, no. He must not have been as smart as you, huh? You brought your own goggles." Her soft fingers were wrapping gauze around his palms now. "You must know him. Is he a friend?"

"He's my teacher," Reno answered. His smile widened. "He's probably the best teacher I ever had..."


	3. Seeds

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 3: Seeds

"You get your brute hands off of me!" Cassie commanded, practically spitting fire at the sorely tried Detective Quincy Drake. His gray eyes and lean face were set against the maelstrom as he helped her out of the cramped backseat of the police car. The gleaming cuffs winked around her thin wrists while her pink painted toenails set themselves down against the dirty black pavement. Drake pushed Cassie's head down before she managed to crack it against the roof of the car in her thrashing.

Reno climbed out of the passenger seat and shut the door, feeling the radiation of Cassie's livid temper as she marched ahead of Drake. The cop glanced back at Reno and jerked his head, motioning for him to come along. He sported a bruised jaw after pulling Cassie off of the social worker who had come to inspect Reno.

A second car rolled up and said social worker climbed out, both eyes black with red claw marks where Cassie's nails had dragged across his skin. The balding man had made the mistake of being callous with Cassie and telling her that Reno would be transferred to the Sector 5 workhouse, known for its brutality and the roster of Midgar's worst juvenile delinquents. Reno hadn't particularly cared, still numbed by the events of the evening and trying to keep his smile in place. His cheeks were starting to ache…

"Ms. Providence," Drake turned her around sharply, so fast that she spun on her heels and lost her balance. Reno stopped to watch as Cassie drew in for another snarling attack on him. Drake held her steady, gripping the blood smeared shoulder pads of her pink dress and staring her down. "You _will_ calm down," he commanded. "I need you calm and reasonable."

Cassie opened her mouth and Drake's face became suddenly dangerous, his gray eyes shining at her like a predator's. His thin mouth set itself in a grim line and it looked like he tightened his grip. The aura felt ominous even to Reno, penetrating the numbness around him.

"Finally, someone muzzled the bitch," the social worker sneered sauntering past. Cassie was shaken out of her obedient daze and lunged like she wanted to bite him but Drake held her steady. He leaned in closer and Reno watched as Cassie responded to the movement.

"Stay. Calm," he reiterated. Without further ado he spun her around and marched her in through the glass doors. Cassie continued without a quip, brooding darkly. Reno had never seen her so fierce before and he followed along mutely, passing beneath Drake's arm as the detective held the door open for him.

Concrete floors greeted Reno and when he looked up he saw a barren roof and desolate concrete walls. Fluorescent lighting glared harshly off of the surfaces while an enormous desk made of scrap metals loomed before him. A husky clerk sat there, shuffling through pages and entering the information into the oldest and shabbiest computer Reno had ever seen. The clerk looked up as Reno passed by him, peering at him from behind thick coke bottle glasses, and then turned his eyes to Cassie.

"Evenin' Drake," the clerk greeted.

"Cronin, would you get me Julia West from Social Services?" Drake asked. Cronin nodded, pressing a button on his desk as he lifted up the battered receiver of an old black phone. The spiral cord was full of knots and stretches as it hung taped to the plastic earpiece. Reno heard the heavy metal door buzz open and followed Drake and Cassie through.

"_More_ social service workers?" Cassie demanded suspiciously.

"Mrs. West is a good friend of mine. After you botched things up with Brody over there, I'm going to need all the muscle I can get," Drake answered. Reno looked again at the battered bald man and admitted to himself that he had sold Cassie short. But his attention was stolen by a woman with spiked gray hair seated patiently at the desk they approached. "Ah, you're here faster then usual, Lyn," Drake said not bothering to conceal his disdain. The woman looked up and Reno was surprised to find a youthful face accompanying that gray hair.

She gave him a smile and Reno reflected on how cruel her features appeared. She had a sharp nose, jutting cheek bones, and a razor edged jaw line with a crooked smile to almost reduce her gleaming amber eyes into a beast's. Still, Reno found her fascinating as he detailed the tiny silver hoops and studs running up her ear and the immaculate press of her coat. She stood up and Reno felt a tremor of fear as she extended her arm to shake his hand, watching the material in her navy blue coat fold over thick muscles. Peeking beneath her sleeve was the ink from a tattoo, while the back of her knuckles were scarred white.

"This was a big deal," she answered, her smile more feline then human. The muscles in Drake's arm stood out as he squeezed Lyn's knuckles together.

"Ms. Providence, would you be so kind as to fill out this paperwork?" Drake asked once Lyn released him. The woman remained standing and studied Cassie. Drake released one of Cassie's wrists and then snapped the cuffs back in place when her arms were in front of her. He gave her the clip board and pen and put her down in a nearby chair. Lyn's eyes turned to Reno.

"Cute brat," Lyn's smile creased the mocha skin around her eyes. She turned back to Drake while Reno critically examined the relaxed posture she had with loose shoulders and one leg supporting most of her weight. The tailored coat and pants she was wearing brought out her figure, and added to the raw power she projected. Even though she'd been sitting, there didn't look to be a wrinkle on the immaculate jacket or pants.

"What did you want?" Drake asked.

"Wanted a look-see at the kid's record. Thought I'd try it the legal way first," Lyn replied still standing. Drake had seated himself and opened a desk drawer.

"And what made you come to me?"

"You're in pretty tight with that bitch working records. I could rough her up but that always gets me into trouble."

"Your diplomacy is fascinating."

"You can't say I go home empty handed," Lyn replied.

"I see that Shin-Ra is unusually interested in this one. Care to give me any details?" Drake pushed.

"That's about five million gil for some of that high tech damage," Lyn replied, uninterested in divulging her secrets.

"For a stolen bike?"

"As if Shin-Ra would give a rat's ass about some kid's toy."

"Then why would you be at all interested in the boy? He stole a bike and lost control of it," Drake scoffed. Lyn's expression was mockingly tender.

"Why don't you leave me to worry about these complicated things, huh Drake? Now hand over the files."

"It's that Soldier guy, ain't it," Reno said before he could help it. Lyn turned and gave him the once over a second time. She took a step towards him and pulled her hands out of her pockets, squatting before him and then peering up again into his face.

"Now where did you hear about them?" she asked him, her voice toned down and quiet. Her eyes were hunting for something in his face.

"5 million?" Reno changed the subject.

"More'n you can even imagine, huh?"

"Too bad 5 million ain't enough to make him pretty," Reno scoffed, determined not to let her win this game. A smile played across her feral features.

"What's your interest in him?" she asked. Reno just smiled and shrugged. She reached up and pulled the goggles off of his face, pushing them back into his hair. She examined the soot covered cheeks and filthy hair and seemed to measure each tooth, including the hole where the last grown tooth would come in. "Do you like games, boy?" she asked.

"Why're you askin' me if you don't even like 'em," Reno fired back.

"Oh believe me, I love a good game. So, here are the rules." Lyn leaned in closer until her bestial face pressed its cheek against Reno's. "In this new world, if you're not careful, you'll end up blown to pieces and left in a bloody sack in some back alley. And you know what? No person in the world will ever give you your justice." Her voice was low and sweet in his ear. Reno's expression glazed over as he focused on Drake who sat doing paperwork with a corner of his eye on Reno. "There are no rules in this new world. It's just a matter of makin' people _think_ there are rules."

There was a loud crack in Reno's ear and he jumped. Lyn reeled backwards, one hand cupping her nose as she landed on her butt unceremoniously. She looked up with surprise at the clipboard wielding Cassie who stood with fire in her eyes.

"You keep your own poison!" Cassie snapped, rising to the occasion like a paladin of justice. Her mussed hair and dirty feet suddenly seemed regal while Lyn looked like a dazed animal staring up at her, blinded by her brilliance. "I know your kind, Turk!" She spit on the ground, ready to strike with the clipboard. Lyn had recovered by this time and heaved herself up smiling. She pulled her hand down from her face, blood streaming down her lips and chin. It dribbled onto the white blouse beneath her navy jacket and even stained the black tie.

"You're cute enough to eat Cherry Cheese Cake," Lyn winked. "I'll let a saucy girl slide on account of how damn pretty you are. Drake, I need those files."

Drake looked like he could hardly contain his hysteria and lifted the receiver of his phone. He cupped the mouthpiece to mask his laughter, scrunching his eyes shut and laughing audibly. Lyn only smiled and sat down on the desk, looking back at Cassie.

"You've ruined my reputation, Cherry," she said pulling out a handkerchief and cleaning up her face. "I'll remember that next time we brush shoulders."

"Keep your fangs out him," Cassie told her curtly, shoving Reno over towards her chair. "Or it'll be the barrel of a shotgun unloading in your face." Lyn just smiled.

"What'll happen to that Soldier?" Reno asked looking over his shoulder. Cassie almost hissed at him and Lyn shrugged.

"He's Shin-Ra property, a 5 million gil piece. I imagine we'll put him back together and he'll go on with his duties," she explained. "This little fiasco won't even go on his records."

"You're despicable," Cassie intoned viscerally. "Don't listen to her, Reno. He'll pay for chasing after your brother like that."

"No one will accept a case against the SOLDIER when he was specifically assigned to retrieve or destroy the bike from the bandit and you can take that to the bank, Cherry," Lyn called, disinterest in her voice. "5 million gil speaks much louder then a slum kid's life." The gleam in her eyes was not lost on Reno who felt a boiling hatred and anger surge through him. Reno grinned.

"Scram, Lyn. Records are pulling up the information right now," Drake said, still recovering from his bout of laughter. He wiped some tears out of his eyes, shaking off the last of his chuckles. "Good to see you for once."

"I'm a barrel of fun Drake. You just gotta wait for the powder keg to light up," Lyn assured him, swaggering off. She didn't look back but Reno felt like her attention was still on him. He thought about what she'd said, thought about murder meaning nothing in the face of money and politics.

"Mrs. West, I'm sorry to say you missed out on the best show I've seen in years," Drake greeted someone but Reno was too absorbed to think much of it. He was vaguely aware of a checkered skirt going past him as Cassie hunkered down to finish up the paperwork. "I hate having called you out so late on a work night."

"That's the only time you call me Drake," replied a kindly voice. "Now what's the problem with this case?"

"Landon," Cassie distracted him. He looked over at her. "Your folks taught you to read, didn't they?"

"No, but I learned a little from Cam."

"Cam taught you to read? Cam hardly even likes you," she replied amazed.

"Only 'cuz he's lazy and always makes me go get the bike parts." A pang of grief struck both of them at once and Reno looked down at his bandaged hands. "How come you wanna know?"

"Landon…what's this word?" Cassie held out the clip board pointing at the first blank. Reno looked at the word and then up at Cassie.

"I thought…how d'you keep all that money straight?" he asked. She smiled with shame in her lowered blue eyes.

"All of that is numbers and there are colors for each race slot. I can do those," she confessed. Reno was silent a moment, reshaping his world again this evening. He took the clip board from her and the pencil and put it down on the first blank. He proceeded to spell out Cassie Providence and looked at the next box. He checked female.

"How old are you Cassie?" he asked.

"Sixteen," she replied, her cheeks blazing crimson.

"Let's get the paper tomorrow," Reno said looking up at her. "Jay liked the funnies." Cassie nodded timidly and Reno went back to the page.

"Think you can help out?" Drake was saying in the back ground as Reno filled out Cassie's address. Cassie dictated it to him, watching in fascination.

"Well, these cases are hard to manage, especially if the elder went awry in spite of the 'reform' policies of Sector 6, not to mention how hungry Sector 5 is for fresh little workers," Mrs. West replied. "I'll see what I can do. Little thing like him won't last long in a place like that. Besides, I'm sure the panel might be willing to give him a second chance since he's so young. I'll go appeal to a few favors owed me."

Reno was suddenly aware of a hand in his hair and he looked up at the tallest Wutian woman he'd ever seen. She must have been around five foot eight with long, silky black hair and a genuine smile. Her eyes were warm and inviting.

"Don't worry about a thing. You've got a good friend here in Drake. He'll look out for you." She pushed his hair back and smiled broader. "What's your name?" she asked him.

"Reno," he answered.

"A good sound name. You'll do us proud and be exemplary for the board, won't you?"

"Yes ma'am," he nodded smiling. He looked back down and continued writing, hoping she hadn't caught that gnawing anger and hatred in him.

"That's a boy. I'll be in touch Drake," Mrs. West said with a pat on Reno's head. She left in the next moment and Reno listened to the echo of her heels on the unforgiving concrete floor. Lyn hadn't made any noise when she'd left.

Reno filled out the paperwork while Cassie spoke with Drake and then answered generic questions himself. He felt nothing as he spoke, explaining what he could about Jay and his possible connections to the Soldiers, admitting to the bike theft and omitting Cam's name entirely. He felt even less when he described the crash site and wreckage and how he had found it. His real attention was on the Soldier, anger and hatred slowly building in a constant churn as he realized the Soldier had been out to kill his brother, as he realized that the Soldier had put on a façade for him. It made him boil over to think that he had been duped. But he smiled instead of scowled and he could tell that it unnerved Drake to see that smile.

"Let's get home Landon," Cassie said wearily when Drake was through with them. "You can crash with me. I'll explain it to the headmaster." Her fingers were lightly on his shoulder.

"Ms. Providence, a word?" Drake said. She looked back at him and then trudged towards him when she realized he wouldn't budge from his desk. Reno watched Drake speak and glance at him and then saw Cassie nod her head.

"I'll think about it," she answered. "Let's go Lan," she said again and this time they left. They walked together through the dark streets, almost stumbling with exhaustion, before slumping into some empty rail seats. The train started moving and Reno suddenly became aware of the plush seats. He recalled how eerie a decaying train car could be and felt the cold fingers of his brother's hand on his once more. He clenched his fists.

"_I ain't leavin' this, Jay…I ain't gonna let it go…"_


	4. Choice

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 4: Choice

Reno looked up from the gnarled and twisted guts of the car he was stripping, pulling out the belts, filters, gears, pistons, spark plugs, and anything else worth salvaging. Mike was on the inside, stripping out the radio and pulling out a few other choice pieces. They were instructed to come back with a haul or not at all and there was only a little more time left before dark.

They worked silently, mostly because they didn't want to attract attention. Before Jay had always been with them as a guard against some of the bigger children stealing pieces from them or pounding them. Now not only was there the gaping void of his absence but they had already been rolled twice for their parts. They were the last ones left in the junkyard and both were cut and bruised to pieces. They had held off the first two assaults but the last two they had been significantly outnumbered and more then a little overpowered.

"Shit," Mike growled knocking his head against the steering column as he wriggled out of the car. He went around back and collected a piece slag, lifting it up and slamming it into the plastic covering over the tail light. The plastic cracked at the blow and he worked his fingers into the chinks, pulling it open.

Reno swiped blood out of his swollen eye and went back to work. He put some more pieces into the heavy satchel slung over his shoulders and moved to a new section of the engine. "Mike, did you siphon out the Mako already?" he asked as Mike swore again.

"Cut my damn finger now," he groused. "You do it. I don't want none of that in my cuts. You remember what happened to Alvin?" Alvin had died last year of overdose on Morpha, a derivative of the more popular Makas. Both were refined drugs from Mako except that Morpha came from recycled engine fuel and Makas was directly from the earth and altered after that. Reno had heard the high it gave was incredible but he'd seen too many of his fellows taken by poorly made batches of Morpha to risk it himself. Urban legend said that if you had cuts you shouldn't work with Mako for fear that it would get in the cuts and poison you. There were even two separate mechanics to handle Mako leaks and the rest of a car.

"You shit. You always say that," Reno growled but hopped out of the hood anyway and trudged over. He took the pump and canister used to pull the Mako out and set to work. "Hey Mike, you heard anything about a group called Soldier?" he asked.

"Dude, soldiers are the guys that go to war. Duh," Mike responded collecting the tail lights and heading for the headlights.

"I mean a group that's name is Soldier," Reno tried again. Mike shrugged his shoulders, completely unconcerned. Reno heaved a sigh and went back to the pump.

They pulled out of the junkyards shortly after and headed home overburdened, trudging in silence. Neither Reno nor Mike spoke as they shuffled onto a train car and Reno felt the familiar cold sensation drape itself over him. He had avoided trains since he and Cassie had gotten home last night.

"Hey Mike, I bet I could beat you home," he said to distract himself.

"Feel free. I ain't runnin' with all this crap," Mike snorted shifting the bag on his hip.

"Winner gets dessert," he goaded and Mike's dark eyes lit up. He examined Reno, all too familiar with Reno's tactical genius when it came to dessert swindling.

"You're on," Mike agreed. Reno was already three steps ahead of him in terms of potential distractions that could be caused while he made off with the rest of tonight's ice cream. Just a little nudge at one of the McCormick brothers and the whole place would break into chaos, affording him plenty of cover to swindle as much dessert as he wanted. Then he and Jay could…

Suddenly dessert seemed like a poor stress reliever…then again the whole operation might cheer him up. He resumed his conniving as the train doors opened at their stop and they both bolted. The heavy bag jostled against his side as he shot into the congested alleyways and street markets that made up the main residential heart throb of Midgar's Section 6. It was pulsing with life as usual, filled with people getting off of work and heading home.

Growing up Jay had won a lot of bets off of Reno's ability to stop on a dime. Today, although Jay was no longer able to place bets, Reno would have earned him a great deal of cash as he suddenly stopped moving and stared directly ahead. Clutching the bag in a white knuckled grip he watched as a small cluster of soldiers approached him, the emblem of Fenrir the wolf god emblazoned on their left shoulders with the stylized gun blades belted to their hips. He watched silently as they passed by him, laughing and talking loudly, before turning a corner. They were headed towards Wall Street where the bars and women were he realized. It looked like the McCormack distraction would have higher stakes then usual.

Reno took off again pounding down the streets with his bag of junk and Mako, dragging it after him. He ran as hard as he could, cutting and weaving through every shortcut he could think of, and when he came panting to a halt he found Mike waiting for him with a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

"Guess that ice cream serving is mine, huh Grandma?" Mike jeered. Reno gave him a playful shove as they passed through the dilapidated front door of what looked like military barracks. The building sprawled in decaying brick on and on, the formerly separate bunkers conjoined by juxtaposed slag to create more sleeping arrangements and additional bathrooms.

The front was teeming with youngsters, most of them boys. It was only the lucky girl who got sent to a work house because usually they were apprenticed to the Wall Street women. In fact, most of the girls here were down right ugly with short cut hair, all tough as nails. It was hard to pick the young ones out and the older girls dressed in baggy coveralls had already established themselves. Oddly enough the girls tended to rule the roost as they banded together and fought viciously.

"Hope it ain't that onion gruel tonight," Mike was saying. "Then you won't even have dessert to get you through." His snicker was cut short as they cut across the dirty grounds and a couple of brawlers pounded into him. Reno pointed and laughed before he got clocked on an already bruised chin by a stray elbow.

"Punk!" he shouted, dropping his bag of goods and leaping into the fray. He clawed, hit, and pulled any hair he could find. As his fist connected with a face he recognized Benjamin, the boy that shared the bottom bunk of their beds. "Hey Ben!" Reno grinned, his fist still cocked back for another blow. Ben blinked but Reno couldn't hear his response as a hammer-heavy fist slammed into the side of his head. "You gotta quit fightin' with Paul," Reno moaned, shaking the stars out of his vision.

The massive boy was three years older then Reno and Paul had a mean streak in him. His large eyes and square jaw were handsome already while he was already built like a black smith. He did manual labor in the Sector 6 Mako reactor and was notorious for how hard he hit. Reno was once again on the receiving end of the dazing blow.

"Outta the way half-pint!" Paul snarled, his whole attention on Ben. In Paul's defense Ben had a habit of playing cruel and unusual jokes on the lumbering and volatile older boy. Reno searched for the cause of the latest trouble and found that there were huge burns running up Paul's right arm.

"C'mon Reno!" Ben squealed, trying to scuttle away as Paul's hand closed around the back of his grimy shirt. "Help a guy out!" He dry heaved as Paul rammed a fist into his guts. Reno shrugged his shoulders, grinning up from where he sat on the ground. "You're such a bitch, yo," Ben complained, wheezing painfully on the ground. Paul drew his leg back for a kick to the ribs.

"Ain't my problem if you go burnin' people up, yo," Reno mocked. Ben scrambled through Paul's legs and took him down at the knee cap, sending him backwards.

"C'mon Reno. If we don't hurry, Lola won't give up dinner!" Mike complained. Reno climbed to his feet, dusting off his dirty clothes and picked up his goods. A ring was forming up around the brawlers and Reno could see over them several of the suits that ran the joint rushing to intervene. He and Mike made themselves scarce, headed directly for the center of the facility where Lola's office was stationed.

Lolita Tin, or Lola as they all called her, was uglier then a pair of muddy army boots. Her nose was broken too many times and she had a masculine body set while there was always a cigar hanging out of her teeth. It didn't have to be lit for her to be happy but she was always chewing on one. Reno respected Lola only because she had spent the last few years tanning his hide when he got into trouble. The woman had a mean touch with a paddle and an even worse one with the old leather belt she kept around her waist.

"You punks get anything good today?" Lola asked the instant their shoes touched down on the cement floor of her office. Her buzzed head wasn't even looking their direction, rather focused on the dart board where she was aiming knives. Jay had always been bold enough to flirt with her but Reno hadn't been able to stomach the idea. Mike, customary of their interactions, said nothing to Lola and plunked the heavy bag down on her desk with a grunt. Reno did likewise and both were turning to go.

"Landon Reno, stick around for a minute," Lola commanded. Reno cringed as Mike slunk off, happy to weasel out of any further interaction with Lola.

"Traitor," Reno grumbled before turning back around. Lola swung around in her chair, the stub of a cigar hanging out of her mouth. She chewed on it with yellow teeth and her coveralls were stained with grease as usual. Reno thought she had been part of the military, a regular grunt in the Shin-Ra army when it had first begun. She had the hard air of military about her now at any rate.

"You been out getting into trouble," Lola stated, getting up out of her chair and walking towards a battered metal filing cabinet. Her boots were coated in mud and the burr of her hair looked a bit unkempt and long for her usual standards. She pulled open the filing cabinet, the tattooed Hell Cat distorting slightly as the tendons in her arm shifted. Reno waited for the reprimand. Lola took her time in delivering it, sifting through files and coming up with one. She stumped back to her desk and sat, opening the stained manila folder and leafing through the documents inside.

"Jay was a good kid," she said at length, pausing to look at the photo. "Had a wild streak and that damn ugly Mohawk proves he ain't got no fashion sense. Y'all been here two years now, ain't cha?"

"Yes ma'am," Reno nodded. Lola's cigar bobbed to the opposite side of her mouth, and she put the file down. She looked restless and went to the grimy window over a cluttered desk. Her square fingers rolled the blinds open, allowing slats of yellow streetlight to fall in on her. She narrowed those steely, nearly black eyes and gazed over her small kingdom of children, all of them hard and jaded, and seemed to study them.

"Social service woman came by today, dropped in to have a word about you," Lola said sounding almost distant. "Pretty gal, 'bout a mile of them slim Wutai legs. Had a good face. Said you didn't wanna get shipped off to Sector 5. That right?"

"Cassie says it ain't no place for kids," Reno answered. Lola smiled but didn't look back at him.

"Yeah, that Cassie sure is two pistols and a derringer. Remarkable girl. I bet you don't even know the half of her, sweet little Cassie…but that ain't my story, and it ain't why I kept you. I've heard there was some Shin-Ra elite involved in Jay's mess."

"He was some new guy, called a Soldier. New group he said…"

"Soldiers and civilians never mix right," Lola sighed, uncrossing her arms and putting her hands on her hips. She still didn't look away from the window. They were silent, Lola seemingly lost in her own thoughts. Reno frowned down at the floor before him. "There was another woman who came to check in on you," Lola continued after a prolonged pause. "She was a Turk."

"Lyn?" Reno asked.

"I was a soldier once, kid. Joined up with the Shin-Ra early on, when they started branching out into new places. I fought in the wars down in Gongaga and then helped in the siege of Junon."

"I didn't think you'd ever left Midgar," Reno frowned. "They always say you've been here forever."

"Older then I look, boy. Must be comin' up on sixty," she answered, and now she did turn around to face him. She crossed her arms, and Reno wondered if she had simply stopped aging at forty. Ugly as she was, she appeared relatively young. "Lemme give you some advice, an' I don't care if you use it. I've seen lotsa kids go to the Shin-Ra, rootless orphans most of 'em. It sounds like a good deal now, those candy words Turks spout. Lyn, you called her. She's one helluva sales woman. She promised you revenge, and you must be thinkin' about it if she sniffed you out here. I ain't lettin' her in here to see you, Reno, and it ain't because I like you. I don't care if you grow up and decide to kill other folks, or if you decide to wallow in Jay's end. But you better choose careful, boy. I know President Shin-Ra, knew him when he riled all of Midgar, and took countries by force, and God what a dream."

Lola's monologue paused here and she looked through him. Reno was confused by her speech, alarmed at the gentleness of her tone and the softness of her face. The hard lines around her mouth and eyes were gone, and her shoulders were relaxed. She looked human.

"I can't say you ain't old enough. Everybody chooses for himself no matter how old he is. But you don't know enough yet, haven't started to see what's really happening here with the Shin-Ra. So go along if you want, once the workhouse boots you out at sixteen. Run off if you feel like it; I won't drag you back. But if you're smart you better learn what you can while I can protect you and the others. You lot, the filthy, run-down street kids, you're the future."

Lola still stared through his chest a moment more, then came back to life. The creases around her eyes and mouth returned, and she pulled a lighter out of her pocket. She clicked it a few times and the flint failed to produce a blaze. Moderate vexation drew lines in her brow. Reno reached into his pocket and tossed her the light. She nodded, lighting her cigar and taking a few pulls.

"I saw some Fenrirs headed for Wall Street," he told her. "I wanna ask them about Soldier…"

"If you get into trouble and drag it back here, you'll wish Lyn had gotten you first," she warned him.

"No, I'm gonna do like you said. I'm gonna learn some, see what I can find out," Reno assured her. Lola quirked an eyebrow before tossing him the lighter back.

"Long as you don't wake me up to get back in after I lock the gates, do what you want Reno."

"No prob. I got my own key copied anyway," Reno flashed a grin and took off without looking back. A book grazed past the side of his face and in another second he heard the door to her office slam shut. Reno laughed, feeling lighter inside already. Hard as the world was there were people looking after him.

He tailed it back outside and cut through the dirty old alleys, taking a short cut through a scrap yard. He slid down a greasy pile of decaying metal and tumbled over a tin roof before landing like a cat on all fours below. He looked up just in time to dance out of the way of a proprietress' broomstick. The bristles rustled the cloth of his stained shirt and her pretty face scrunched up in irritation.

"Scat rat! You'll scare off all the customers with that stink!" she threatened, brandishing the broom.

"Hey toots! With a face like that they might not mind sniffin' around in spite of me," he laughed, dashing into the general mill of the crowd.

Wall Street was unlike any other place in the slums Reno had ever been to. Rather then the scrabbling poor lives that people tended to scratch out elsewhere, someone had managed to gain a little wealth and it had bled over into the rest of the street, trickling down and making the rest of the district relatively wealthy. People from the Plates came to slum here and slums people came to jump at the scraps cast off by the wealthy. It was a fascinating place to intermix.

The bright neon lights around him cast peculiar tints to the skin and clothing of everyone around, the women especially. It lit up the highlights and lowlights of their unnatural hair color, or gleamed elegantly off of a piercing. Some women folded themselves inside of elaborate garb, depicting animals Reno had only ever seen or heard about in books and stories. Others wore next to nothing and slithered up and down any number of objects, bending or twisting in impossible ways. It had always fascinated Reno to study the women of Wall Street and the mixed responses of adoration or irritation amused him.

Men in Wall Street came in all varieties as well, some so covered in tattoos that they should have been wall murals, others dressed so well that Reno wondered if his hands would leave dirty prints in their pressed clothing. But they were always stopping at the different girls, or sliding in and out of the numerous bars. It was the best place to pick up a bit of extra cash.

A prime example of this was a man in white, so sloshed Reno could smell the alcohol dribbling off of him. He snagged a wallet and pocket watch, bagging them in a pant pocket, and kept going, eager to find the Fenrirs he had seen earlier. He ducked in and out of different streets, weaving between bars and clubs, checking each for his mark. After almost an hour and quite frustrated Reno paused to catch his breath beneath a neon light.

"_You're_ too young to be a customer. You should get off of the front porch," said a small voice behind him and Reno turned back. A Wutanese girl with her hair done in two buns stood behind him carrying a heavy bucket of water. She was caught between a scowl and cower.

"_You're_ too young to get anything good out of some old dude standing here," Reno launched back at her. "You ain't even got a pretty dress on."

"I'm only an apprentice, that's why," she sniffed, waddling a bit farther with her heavy bucket. Reno watched as she went to the end of the porch and emptied the contents of the bucket into the alley. "But you're in the way. My big sister will be out here soon," she informed him. Reno, just to be irritating, hopped up and made himself comfortable. "Really! You have to move!" she insisted, fisting her hands on her hips. Her dark eyes looked stressed and she was now more irritated then worried.

"I will if you help me out," Reno answered. "See, I'm on a mission," he lowered his voice, motioning for her to come closer. Her interest was piqued and she abandoned her frustration. Looking both ways, she squatted beside him and crab walked closer. "I'm supposed to be finding some Fenrir soldiers. I have a really important message for one of 'em."

"How do I know you're tellin' the truth?" she whispered back and Reno credited her for intelligence. Thinking on his toes he pulled out the stolen wallet and flipped it open.

"I'm supposed to bring him this fake ID, see. He's got a job to do where he needs to go under cover but he forgot to pick up his fake ID."

"Oh! How exciting!" she cheered and Reno shushed her emphatically, putting away the wallet.

"Have you seen any Fenrirs? Do you know where they might go?"

"My sisters talk about a place called the Honey Bee. They don't like it because the soldiers get a discount there so we lose a lot of business to them. You should try starting over there," she told him, her eyes darting back and forth.

"Thanks toots," Reno smiled.

"Good luck with your mission!" she smiled, clasping her hands. Reno jumped up and waved, taking three steps.

"Rukia! What have you been doing? Where are my hair clips?" demanded a petulant woman behind him and Reno paused to look back. The little girl who had helped him was groveling before a half done-up woman who scowled angrily.

"I'm so sorry! I'll get them at once!"

"You'll hardly make a good geisha at this rate. So lazy and ugly, no man will want you," the woman complained. Rukia leaped up.

"Hey toots!" Reno shouted and Rukia looked at him, alarmed. He dashed up and jumped onto the landing, wrapping both arms around her. Quick as lightning he gave her a kiss on the cheek before grinning devilishly up at the geisha. "Don't listen to this old hag!" he sneered. The geisha gasped, hunting for something to strike him with. "When I'm old enough, I'll come back and pay more for you then any guy's ever paid for this dried up old sow!" He squeezed her and leaped off the porch, just missed by a flower pot. He looked over his shoulder and saw Rukia smiling after him, laughing delightedly with a pink blush painting her cheeks.

He ran all the way to the Honey Bee, finding it after asking directions from another assistant. It was lit up all in pink with throngs of men outside the doors accosting the hostess who stood in a strapless leotard with little antenna on her head and a hornet stinger on her butt. Reno looked around him and then wormed into the midst of a throng of old men, just managing to skim by the bouncers and hostess. He wormed his way back out and gazed upon a sea of darkly lit tables, a neon pink stage, and an endless number of soldiers.


	5. 100 Bucks Awry

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 5: 100 Bucks Awry

Reno slipped out of the way of the door and settled himself next to a pillar, deciding on his best course of action. He sorely doubted the soldiers would look away from their feminine company or the slinky show on stage to answer a kid's questions, so he decided to use their pastime against them. Climbing onto the railing beside the pillar, Reno hunted the dimly lit interior for a suitable candidate to do his bidding.

_Too fat…too skinny…too drunk…too stupid…_he tallied mentally, before winding up on the barkeep. She was a pretty girl, not the most beautiful in the room, but with a coy smile on her face and long lashes. He watched as she listened to the different men before her, mixing their drinks, only nodding and rarely speaking as they oozed tears or burbled up confessions. She would do.

Slinking through the crowds, Reno kept his head down and moved along the back of the room, sliding between crowds so as not to catch the eye of a bouncer. It wasn't that hard with all the traffic and surprising amount of hushed hubbub. He found his way to the bar and climbed onto a stool on the end, shouldered between a sleeping drunk and a man in a purple tiger stripe suit conversing with another man in a neon blue whole piece suit. Reno was amused by the flashy garments and took his time listing off all the reasons these men were idiots. But it was better to sit next to them to mumble to the bartender then between a couple of Fenrirs he wanted information from.

"They just get younger and younger. Look at you, you can barely reach the bar!" snickered the bartender as she leaned against the counter. "You know, you boys aren't supposed to be out front here." She was flashing a generous amount of cleavage at him as she spoke, but Reno focused instead on her hazel eyes, twinkling with mischief.

"I don't work here, toots, but I bet I'd be a crowd puller," he told her, and she laughed. "Hey, can you do me a favor? Slums brat to slums brat?" He fished in his pocket and pulled out a couple of bills. Glancing at them, he realized they were fifties. He crumpled them up and slid them at her anyway. She worked one cool finger underneath his hand and retrieved the money, lifting her eyebrows in surprise.

"And what can I do for you this evening?" she asked, sliding the cash into her apron.

"Coke please," he said first, swinging his legs. She lifted a glass and filled it with ice and the carbonated beverage, setting it down with a cherry in it. He motioned for her to lean in as he took a drink, and she crossed her arms over the bar to do so. Reno put his cheek against hers. "I wanna know more about these guys called Soldiers,"

"You're such a strange boy," she giggled.

"It's a group, like the Fenrirs, the Hell Cats, all them. But this one is called Soldier. They got glowing eyes."

The bartender paused, drumming her fingers on the counter as she focused on something.

"I've heard scraps here and there," she told him. "The Fenrirs think they're a joke, don't much like them. They've got a rivalry already."

"See if you can't find out anything 'bout one that was in a race accident last night. Killed another kid over in the junk yards. Far as they say, Soldier lived. He's the one I wanna know about," Reno prompted.

"Mina! You know there ain't no boys s'posed to be out front like this!" barked a rough voice, and the bartender jumped out of her skin. She looked up hastily, glancing between Reno and the bouncer. Reno swiveled around.

"Can't a guy get a break?" Reno whined. Mina's eyes widened, and she put her hands down on Reno's shoulders.

"He's a cousin, visiting from Sector 7. I dunno how he managed to get in, but he says the pad's been burgled and he didn't wanna be there alone. So he came here lookin' for me," Mina said smoothly, rubbing Reno's shoulders.

"He ain't yer cousin! You don't have no family!" the bouncer laughed, grasping Reno by the scruff of his neck. "We all know yer in cahoots with them boys anyway, Mina."

"Damn, you meat heads always gotta ruin our fun," Reno complained, and Mina tensed further.

"He wants to be up here, let him be up here," said the man in the purple tiger stripes. He had greased back blond hair and killer green eyes that looked Reno over, a slow smiled spreading over his predator's features. "I'll pay for 'im to mix my drinks."

"That's twenty bucks a drink," the bouncer said, grinning. Some of his silver teeth gleamed in the dim interior, cast pink from the bar lights.

"Sounds dandy. Missy, just put 'em on my tab. Boy, let's have a martini on the rocks." Mina glanced at the man in purple and back at Reno, who was standing on the bar stool brushing off the bouncer.

"Hear that? Hands off. I'm a wanted man," Reno said arrogantly, before hopping over the bar and vanishing behind it. He could see the full expanse of Mina's shapely legs now, along with the stinger on her uniform. Mina pushed over a box for him to stand on so the customers could see him.

"You know anything about mixin' drinks," Mina asked him, and Reno shrugged his shoulders. "Then I'll put it all together, you can mix, and then poor. Think you can manage?" she asked, grabbing an alcohol bottle and pouring its contents into a metallic flask of some sort. She added a few other ingredients as the men in colorful suits continued talking, before handing it to him. Reno shook it around a bit and looked at her. "Mm, maybe a little more," she advised. "Stop!" she halted him as he moved to go wild with the thing. "Be gentle with the alcohol. Treat the drink like a lady and you'll get what you want from it," she advised, monitoring his progress. "Fine, now pour," she plunked down a martini glass with ice, which Reno proceeded to pour the drink into messily.

"You're a real wild one," snickered the man in purple tiger stripes. Reno just grinned at him, pushing at the gap between his teeth.

"You wanted a boy to pour your drinks, not some dame," Reno retorted, and the men laughed. Mina glanced their direction as she leaned over with a smile, giving her clients a generous view.

"You're certainly new around here. Just start?" the man asked.

"Today in fact," Reno nodded, perched on the stool Mina had brought him.

"Oh yeah? Have they given you a name yet?"

"Can't say they have."

"Must not have raffled you off then either. Too much fire for that," the purple striped man smiled, and Reno felt a strange fear slide into his gut. The man looked him over in much the same way the soldiers were examining Mina. Now wait…how was _that_ supposed to work?

"Ain't Mina pretty enough for you?" Reno asked, smiling to mask his fear.

"She's not what I'm in the mood for," the man replied. Reno gave the man a critical look, before swiveling his attention to Mina. He looked back at the man with an expression of disbelief.

"Look, you might come from up there, but down here, _that_ is a pretty gal!" Reno informed him, and the man in purple tiger stripes laughed. He elbowed the man in blue next to him, who was guffawing noisily over his beer.

"He must be new," the blue man choked. "Poor tike has no idea what he's gotten himself into!"

"Long as I get paid," Reno said, forcing a smile back into place. He wanted Mina to hurry up with that information. She wasn't even paying attention to him at this point. Damn hundred dollars in a woman's hands…

"How about another drink?" the man in purple asked. Reno hopped off of his stool and presently began assembling the beverage he had watched Mina prepare, shaking it about in the same fashion she had taught him initially, and poured again. "So, as long as you get paid you're fine?" grinned the man in purple, hooking a finger around three of Reno's as he pulled the mixer back. Reno looked up at the man, startled. He shoved his rising fear down behind the smile, conjuring it with everything he possessed, and pulled his hand away.

"I ain't cheap," he stated, his stomach tying itself in knots. He was unaccustomed to the look he was receiving or the hungry smile ever widening on the man's face.

"Money certainly isn't an issue tonight. Let's have a better look at that face of yours." The man's hand snaked out and he lifted Reno's chin. Reno felt unbearably exposed as his pale throat was revealed, and the cold eyed man appraised the sharp, almost elfin features of his captive. Reno's smile remained like frost on dead grass, still holding the life-like color but undeniably dead. His eyes were wide and terrified of the man. "Soft skin too," he said, curling a finger along Reno's cheek.

"Hands off, I'm workin'," Reno jerked his face away.

"Not yet you're not," the man grasped Reno's shirt, holding him in place. Reno tried to pull back, and dug his fingers between the purple-striped man's, attempting to loosen the vice. "Jacob! How much for an hour? Shit!" The man jerked back as Reno's teeth sunk into his knuckles. The energy sent Reno tumbling backwards where he clocked his already bruised and aching noggin against the wall. Dazed, he shook his head and scrambled up, abandoning the search for information.

"All right runt!" snapped the bouncer from before, his meaty hand catching Reno's hair. Reno cried out as he was dragged backwards and then pulled along by the scalp from behind the bar.

"No wait!" Mina shouted. Jacob turned and slammed the back of a ringed hand into her face. She crashed backwards, and Reno could see jagged red lines open up on her cheek.

"You quit interfering in business!" Jacob snapped, before switching his grip the scruff of Reno's neck. "You sure you want this brat, Corneo? He's smelly." Jacob hoisted Reno up like a sail, dangling him before the man in purple stripes.

"He's full of fire and energy. He'll be fun to break in," Corneo smiled, cleaning his bleeding knuckles on a kerchief. "Take him back to the usual room."

"Lemme go! I don't even really work here!" Reno shouted, thrashing futilely.

"You was happy enough to help out earlier," Jacob scoffed. "Way I see it is you got yourself into this mess anyway."

"But I don't work here! Now throw me out! Lemme out!" Reno commanded, all the while growing more frantic as Corneo pulled out his wallet. He proceeded to flip out numerous hundreds, laying a stack of ten down on the counter.

"All that for the boy. That'll buy him up from anyone on the streets and is three times the going rate," Corneo stated.

"Done!" Jacob laughed.

"You can't do this!" Reno shouted, flailing his limbs. He managed to catch Jacob's ribs, and the man proceeded to throw him down onto a table. Knocked breathless, Reno wheezed as he tried to scrabble up, his lungs crying out for air. Jacob's huge hand fell down on Reno's chest and throat, pinning him to the disrupted table. Poker chip dug into his back, while some broken glass cut his elbow and the smell of alcohol soaked into his hair.

"Anyone here wanna give up their job for the punk? I'll let him go if there is one hired hand who would give up their job for this twerp," Jacob stated, looking around the room. Reno's eyes were blurry, but he turned his head towards the bar where Mina was holding her bloodied cheek. She gazed at him for no more then a split second, before looking away. "None of you? Nobody?" Reno held his breath, pleading.

_Please…God…anybody…please someone…help me…_he prayed. The silence tingled around him, teeming with energy so intense it was about to shatter.

"Corneo, he's all yours. No claims were made on him," Jacob stated, dragging Reno back up. Hope was sucked right out of his chest as raw terror filled him. What was this man paying so much to do to him? Reno had heard of people who'd been cut to pieces and their organs taken, others stolen and spirited off to be human experiments, but he didn't know what this man wanted with him. Was he to be some freak? No…the look, the finger on his cheek…his brain stopped allowing him to think, only to panic.

"No!" He screamed. "No! Don't touch me!" Heat was building behind his eyes as Jacob dragged him kicking and screaming into the back, wailing louder then a banshee. Reno managed to lodge a hand onto one Fenrir's shoulder, catching and cutting his fingertips in the armor. He pleaded desperately with his eyes, but the Fenrir, a handsome man with black hair, removed his fingers and let him go.

He went behind the stage, Corneo following, and into an intimate hallway. Doors passed him, but Reno was too busy kicking at the air and digging his fingernails into Jacob's fist. Jacob didn't let go, not until a door opened and he dragged Reno inside. Squirming all the more ferociously, Reno felt a plush mattress hit his back and the sigh of chains. His panic increased exponentially, and his feet finally found part of Jacob's body. The blows were useless, and thrash as he did, he quickly felt the cold metal close around his wrists. All at once Jacob was gone and closing the door behind him, leaving only Reno and Corneo.

"What do you want from me?" Reno shouted. "Why are you doing this? I need my organs!"

"Organs? Who said anything about organs?" Corneo asked, seating himself at the edge of the bed and regarding Reno curiously. Reno's heartbeat slowed a fraction, and he stopped hyperventilating.

"Why am I here? Why am I in chains?"

"I have little use for individual organs if they're not all assembled and in working order," Corneo mused. His features became more shark-like. Reno backed towards the wall, her fingers fumbling for an escape, some way to pick the locks. Yes, his fingertips could feel the locks. The knowledge that he knew how to pick them brought a degree more calmness to him.

"You just wanted to talk, right? Just to talk," Reno said, searching with his peripheral vision for something – anything – he could use. Corneo laughed again.

"Where did you come from? You naïveté is charming," he asked.

"Where did _you_ come from? Never seen nobody like you," Reno scrabbled to keep him talking, fishing in his back pockets for any bit of junk he could find that might help him.

"Haven't you heard of me? The name's Don Corneo. I am relatively new around here, so I guess I'll forgive you for not knowing my name." Corneo sighed.

"Your famous? How come?" Reno urged.

"Oh, any number of reasons. I don't want to bore you with the details," Corneo stood, moving to approach him.

"I wanna know! I wanna know how to get rich and famous too!" Reno almost squealed, but managed to keep most of the jitters out of his voice. Corneo didn't seem to realize he was stalling for time, and seemed genuinely pleased to speak.

"A good bit was luck I suppose, but then it's undeniable how talented I am," he stated amiably. Reno nodded, smiling hugely. He had found a spring in his pocket, and a paperclip from the stolen wallet. Furiously, he worked behind him to utilize these two tools as Corneo began to regale him about working for the Shin-Ra, about how easy it was to make money ferrying between the slums production lines and the plates. Reno listened with rapt attention, nodding and smiling the whole time, until the locks finally gave.

"But enough talk," Corneo pounced suddenly, his fingers spreading along the side of Reno's head and sliding into the small of his back. The man's face loomed into Reno's vision, but he ducked loose and free, rolling past and tearing across the room to the door. He twisted the knob and pulled, to no avail. "So much spirit!" Corneo exclaimed. "You wily little devil! How did you ever manage to get free?"

"Let me out!" Reno commanded. "Let me out now!"

"Not for the price I paid," Corneo stated. "Now just come here and be a good boy."

"Don't you touch me!" Reno shouted, his fingers curling around a nearby bottle. He held it in both hands, ready to swing like a baseball bat. Corneo held up his hands and smiled, still approaching slowly. Reno sized him up frantically, his eyes darting up and down the man. He feigned a swing, and Corneo flinched, covering his head. While he was distracted, Reno leaped forward and this time did swing for real. The momentum swung his body around in a circle, the wine glass shattering against a nearby table leg. Corneo wrapped his arms around Reno, attempting to pin him.

Sheer luck let Reno wriggle the arm with the bottle free and jab it backwards. He felt the shattered glass connect with flesh, and Corneo released his grip at once with a cry. Swirling around, Reno jumped onto Cornoe's back and pulled his head up by the hair, holding the glass to his throat.

"Everything okay in there?" asked someone from the other side. It wasn't Jacob's voice.

"Tell them to open the door," Reno growled. Corneo swallowed, and Reno pressed the glass harder into his skin. "Open it!"

"H-hey out there! I'm finished!" Corneo called.

"You alright?"

"Everything's fine. Just…just open up now."

The door swung open easily, and Reno vaulted for it. He jammed the glass into the stomach of the bouncer, a young man with mousy brown hair and acne, and tore down the hallway. He ran as fast as his little legs would carry him, back the way they'd come and up into the bar. Corneo was shouting after him, sounding an awful alarm, but Reno didn't turn back.

"Get him!" he heard, and ran all the harder. His arms and legs pumped, and he slid beneath a table, proceeding to scramble back and forth, taking mad secants and jigs in his desperate shot for the door. He popped up somewhere close by amidst stampeding legs and shouts. He glanced each direction and gambled, surging forward and hoping he made it out into the street. In the corner of his eye, he saw Jacob making a lunge for him as someone else crashed into the door, effectively opening it. With a roll, Reno was successfully free, except for the surge of angry mob that came after him.

He pounded back through Wall Street's colorful district, weaving and diving to the shouts of "thief" and "stop that boy!" But he never looked back, just kept going until his lungs burned and he had no idea where he was, running in circles and loops, doubling back, jigging down a side street. It wasn't until his legs gave out and he collapsed in a tumbling heap, crashing into some garbage cans that his fear caught up again. He could hear boots following him, knew they were almost upon him.

"Here he is!" shouted someone. He saw some bouncers over his head, and felt their hands wrap around his numb arms.

"Don't…don't touch me…." He panted, watching them with glazed eyes.

"You're in some real shit! That's Don Corneo!" jeered one man. Reno struggled feebly, but couldn't even feel his limbs.

"This'll be a real show!" agreed the other. Reno snarled up at them, the only defense mechanism he had left. Despair was swallowing him whole, practically sinking fangs into his throat.

All at once, a man jerked out of Reno's line of sight. He was thrown backwards and away, while the other bouncer turned to face his assailant. He met with a rusted shovel to the face, and Reno fell to the ground, limp.

The alley went silent, only rushing blood and his heartbeat sounding in his ears. Then, slow step by slow step, Reno heard footfalls approach him. One, two, three, and so on for an excruciating eternity.

A bald head with honey brown eyes peered over at him, haloed by the yellow streetlamp above him. Reno frowned slightly, trying to focus on his savior, but could make out no more then the startlingly clear eyes.

"Thanks for savin' me, yo," he panted, allowing a weak smile to drape itself across his face. "I was really in a fix…" This other boy said nothing, only proceeded to squat down and put a callused hand on Reno's cheek. His brows knit into something of a frown. Reno struggled to sit up. "There's more…" he said urgently. The boy, probably a few years older then Reno, still didn't say a word.

"Hey! That's ours!" shouted another man, pointing at Reno. The quite boy sized the men up, and for a moment, the red head feared his savior would abandon him. Instead, the silent boy put himself between Reno and his attackers, brandishing his shovel. "Heh, suit yourself!" Both men charged the boy, their shoes scraping on the pavement. Reno watched as the boy slid into a baseball stance, twisted his shoulders, and connected with both men, knocking them into the alley wall, each with painful crunches. They moaned and did not move.

The silent boy came back and this time squatted with his back to Reno, patting his shoulders. With some effort, Reno managed to drape himself onto this boy's back. He set his chin down, and let himself be carried.

Hot tears that had risen to the back of his eyes before this suddenly seemed to return, and for some reason Reno found himself crying quietly. Steamy tracks ran down his cheeks and slid onto the other boy's shoulder. Ashamed, Reno tried to wipe them up.

"Don't worry," the quiet boy said. "I've got your back."


	6. A Rock and A Hard Place

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 6: A Rock and A Hard Place

A Sol Sunburst hung out of Reno's mouth as he detailed a nearby heap of garbage and decided the slag metal and other oddments resembled something of a giraffe…if he twisted his head to one side and blurred his eyes. Maybe it was a drunken giraffe…

Ash tumbled onto his new yellow jacket, dappling gray streaks onto the sleeve and tracking across the two racing stripes. He pulled the cig out and flicked the remaining ash off on the ground next to him, not bothering to beat his arm clean.

Reno shifted on the broken oil drum he sat on, brushing something uncomfortable out from beneath him. He relaxed one leg out in front of him, examining his shoe. The soles had two holes in the bottom…he'd have to complain to Lola about it louder then Bugsy or Johnny were currently whining about their problems. He reached up and adjusted the goggles hanging around his neck, still there after a year.

A bald head caught the light from a nearby streetlamp, and Reno saw Rude's distinct carriage as the boy approached with squared shoulders and quiet dignity. Slung over his shoulder was a rusted shovel, and his battered jeans and ratty T-shirt were stained with earth.

"It's the Apocalypse, yo! Dudes are diggin' themselves outta the grave!" Reno called as Rude made easy progress towards him, hardly in any rush. At twelve, Rude was built like a teenager and tall already. He looked perhaps fifteen or sixteen, and carried himself like he belonged to the Plates above them. It always tickled Reno to watch how calm and secure Rude was with his schooled expression. "That grim face could fool anybody," Reno warned, sticking his cigarette in his mouth and crossing his fingers perpendicularly before himself.

Rude swung the shovel off of his shoulder and sat down next to Reno, his honey-brown eyes focusing on the bent structure that Reno had just been scrutinizing.

"It's a drunken giraffe," Reno explained, framing it with his fingers the way Cassie did when she pined for a camera. He wondered if he would have the money for one by the time Christmas rolled around…

"Have you heard?" Rude asked, his voice smooth and even. Reno looked at the older boy, prompting him to say more. "Fenrirs shipped out today."

"Your bro?"

"Went with them,"

"Sorry 'bout that. Where to?"

"Wutai. It was on the TV everywhere."

"I been at the scrap yards all day," Reno complained weakly, rolling his shoulders for emphasis. He blew out a plume of smoke and flicked ash off his cigarette again. "Poker night at Cassie's. She's cookin'," he added, elbowing Rude. In truth, he didn't know what to say to his depressed friend. He hoped that a lively evening would make him feel a little better. Rude just stood up, and Reno tagged along after him like a puppy, waiting for an opportunity to cheer his comrade up.

They wound through the little squatter settlements dominating the edges of every sector. Neither of them spoke as they threaded through the complex maze leading back to a row of tenements that Rude's family crowded into. Reno had found himself slowly adjusting to the silence that Rude chose to isolate himself in after months of trying to get the boy to open up and boast, laugh, or gloat like the boys Reno lived with. But now, as time wore on, he was getting more comfortable talking to what at first had seemed a silent and uncaring wall.

"So today Mike and I about got our faces kicked in," Reno said, hoping to lighten the mood. "Ended up bustin' three or four of Paul's pals up after Ben dragged 'em right to us. That idiot Ben mixed somethin' into Paul's drink to give him the runs. Ben can't keep outta nobody's way, yo." Reno let his voice border on a whine as he rubbed the ache in his lower spine. Rude didn't say anything, so Reno pondered an alternate subject.

"They had a great brawl over on the race grounds the other day. We raked in the dough! These guys were like 'Mwauuuughhh!' and the other was like 'Yrrraauuauaugh!' and they were grappling and bashing everything into each other," Reno cackled, miming in slow motion the striking of a fist to his face two times. He screwed his eyes up and twisted his mouth into a snarling howl, bending slowly backwards. "Whup!" he flailed as he lost his balance, and then landed roughly on his butt. Rude had paused to watch his antics, and Reno smiled up at him sheepishly, thumbing his nose. "'Cept it was faster and there was money flyin' everywhere when it really happened. You should come tomorrow to the rally."

"You like the races," Rude said, holding out his hand to Reno. The lanky boy took it and hopped up like a spring wound toy, brushing dirt off of his cargo pants.

"It's exciting," he nodded. "You don't like 'em though, huh? You never come." Rude shrugged his shoulders and didn't answer, just kept going. Reno was moderately irked that he'd gotten so close to one of Rude's talkative moods, only to lose it at the last moment. Rude seemed to sense this, and Reno could see him hunting for words.

"A man came by the house last night," Rude stated softly, and Reno's ears pricked up. "He was wearing a blue suit. Called himself a Turk,"

"Really? What'd he want?" Reno asked, conjuring the image of Lyn with her predator's face in his mind. He hadn't seen her since the incident a year ago, although he did hear Lola muttering about her from time to time.

"He wanted my brother to be a soldier, but my brother's a Fenrir," Rude frowned, perplexed. Reno felt a quite sense of fear and foreboding settle in the pit of his stomach. His knuckles whitened as he dropped his eyes to the muddy ground. He listened as his boot squelched in a puddle.

"They meant a Soldier. It's a group like the Fenrirs," Reno explained. Rude looked back, his honey-brown eyes critically examining his young friend. "They're a different unit."

"You know them?"

"One was in the accident," Reno answered, lifting the goggles from around his neck and putting them over his eyes, drawing comfort form the familiar pressure. "What happened?" he changed the subject.

"He said no," Rude said flatly. "The Turk just shrugged and left."

"Shit!" Reno jumped so far back that he couldn't catch himself. He landed roughly again on his backside, splashing in a mud puddle and drenching himself. Unconcerned for his attire, he scrambled away, spasms of panic shooting through him.

On the doorstep to Rude's tenements were a number of muscled bodyguards, all of them glowering at the beast that was Rude's father. Old man Rude was approximately six and a half feet with forearms the size of Christmas hams and enough muscle to break an average man without a second thought. His black eyes were hard and mean, while about half his yellow teeth were gone. His tightly curled hair clung to his skull with a coarse beard peppered in white spots. He was staring down an utterly calm, flamboyantly dressed man with blonde hair and cold green eyes.

Rude, unaccustomed to such a reaction from his scrap-happy companion, reacted beautifully to the display of alarm. He grasped the scruff of Reno's neck and hauled the boy behind one of the squatter homes, both of them sliding out of sight.

Reno scrambled so that he could see what was happening, his green eyes wide and staring at the impeccable and gleaming white on Don Corneo's suit, along with the snide grin wreathing his features. His heart pounded as the sickening smell of booze and expensive cologne choked his senses, wafting from his memories. His skin prickled as unspoken fear filled him.

"What're you brats doing?" demanded a wrinkled old man, his breath smelling like rotten meat and alcohol. Reno didn't flinch, while Rude almost gagged. Rude lifted his finger to his mouth, signaling silence. The man looked between the boy and at the cluster of suits at the doorstep, and his eyes lit up with an idea.

His bent and crippled frame swung up and he hobbled gleefully towards the suits, rubbing his gnarled hands together. It had been too sudden for Rude's failed swipe to stop.

"You lookin' fer a coupla brats? I gots a red head and a bald black one over there!" he crowed, his gravelly voice grinding in his throat. Reno collected a stone and lobbed it after the man, catching him in the back of the skull. The man wheezed and fell forward, barely six steps from where he'd started, but it was too late. Corneo had spotted them, and his eyes lit up with fire and delight.

"I want him! Get me that boy and I'll pay a thousand gil to the captor!" he commanded. Reno was already taking off, Rude hot on his heels, shovel forgotten.

"Those are the same suits from that night," Rude commented. "What did you do?"

"I don't know," Reno answered, almost hyperventilating. "Cassie…I want Cassie…"

"No good. We'll have to lose them on Wall Street," Rude disagreed. Reno just tried to swallow the sobs of hysteria threatening to overcome him. He could hear footsteps gaining. "This way!" Rude shouted, veering down a side alley. Reno passed it by a few steps, skidding to a halt, before tearing down after his friend.

"Split up!" a man shouted behind them, and Reno ran faster. He was right on Rude's heels, but he knew that their pursuers were gaining much faster then they could effectively escape.

"Stay close to me," Rude shouted, reaching back and catching Reno's hand. "Don't let go!" Blood sang in Reno's ears.

Eternally night beneath the plates, Wall Street bustled with its neon lights and slinky women at all times, the roads always packed with men of different lives and work shifts. They burst into this world of color and humanity as if they had suddenly been cast into a kaleidoscope, but today there was no time to look around. Rude kept going with Reno barely keeping up. It seemed to the younger boy that there were wings or Rude's heels, and that if they went any faster they might be able to fly away.

"Catch them! Get those boys!" shouted a burly pursuer, just as they lost him around a tight curve and pounded through a gaggle of men. Reno felt fingernails comb through his hair as Rude's shoulder jerked free of someone else's grasp.

"1,000 gil to their captors!" someone behind him crowed, the voice gravelly from a lifetime of smoking.

"Favor from Don Corneo for their capture!" another agreed.

Wall Street, as lively as it had ever been, suddenly became a raging sea. Everywhere people crowded after them, hungry for the insane price of 1,000 gil and pining for favor from a man who now had power and title in the underworld. Rude didn't let Reno go, plowing a path for both of them.

"Shit!" Rude grunted, slamming into an alley wall as he couldn't quite make a turn. The crowd seethed after them as Reno thudded into Rude. "We gotta get out of Wall Street…" he started moving again.

Reno's muscles were burning as he ran behind Rude, and his fingernails had to be cutting into Rude's hand. He felt the swell and excitement of the crowd behind him, along with the rising fear in his own chest. A flash of silver caught Reno's attention, and the world seemed to freeze.

Lyn's profile came into focus as she leaned over the upper story of a bar, her black eyes locking on him. One eyebrow creased upward in amusement, as a smile made her features again twist into an animal's. It became real time as she bobbed her head towards the door of the establishment, winking.

"This way!" Reno jerked on Rude's arm, hauling him inside the building without stopping to look at what it was. Rude was yanked towards it, and the pair of them crashed through the doors. They spilled over the feet of some perplexed suits that looked down on them with a mixture of amusement and surprise.

"Bolt the doors, gents," Lyn commanded from above. "Tell 'em Corneo can come himself for 'em." The two suits they had landed before stepped around them. One had a long blonde braid and gleaming auburn eyes, while the other was considerably shorter with slicked back brown hair and a baby-smooth chin. They closed the doors and bolted them. The braided man leaned over and pulled both boys up to their feet.

"What a friend you have," he smiled.

Reno and Rude were both panting, and Reno pulled off his goggles to better see the world he had tumbled into. It took a moment to focus on the dim interior, lit around the sides by cool blue lights gleaming off of dark wood furniture and shining dimly on fine leather chairs and couches. Lined above the bar were shelves of alcohol, while suits lounged comfortably, sipping drinks, smoking, and talking. They all wore dark blue suits with black ties, and all of them were armed with any range of weaponry.

"You can't manage to stay outta trouble with both that old boot at the work house _and _Cherry Cheese Cake watchin' yer back?" Lyn demanded, squatting so she could look up at him. "What's Corneo want you for?"

"I ain't sure," Reno shook his head, clenching his fists to keep them from shaking. "Last year I ran into him, an'…" Reno trailed off, ashamed. Lyn leaned in to hear better, and he put his mouth to her ear. "H-he wanted to treat me like I was a girl…" he whispered.

"Sick fuck," Lyn laughed, leaning back on her heels. "Bet you'd have nonna that, huh boy?"

"I busted a wine bottle and stabbed him," Reno nodded, his smile nervously fluttering over his cheeks. Lyn whistled lowly, swinging up tall.

"Who's the mutt?" she asked, looking Rude up and down.

"That's Rude," Reno explained.

"You've got a thousand gil on your tail, boy. Siddown and let's talk some business," Lyn motioned for them to follow. "Explain to me why I shouldn't give you over for a price like that." While Lyn's words were a bit startling, Reno was so relieved to see her and have the crowd gone that he could have collapsed. Rude caught his arm as Reno moved to follow.

"You _trust_ her?" Rude demanded softly. Reno looked perplexed by the question. "_She's_ scarier then Corneo."

"'Course she is. She's a Turk," Reno answered, as if this shouldn't have been such a surprise. Rude looked around him and then let go of Reno's arm. "C'mon. Where's your sense of adventure?" Reno punched him lightly in the arm.

"I lost it somewhere back there," Rude answered dryly, although he followed along anyway.

Lyn met them above stairs, relaxing on a low couch along one wall, nursing some dark liquid. Reno and Rude both came and sat down together, Reno scooting all the way forward to look at her better. Her features seemed even more extreme with the light and shadow playing off of them.

"So, Landon Reno," she smiled, propping her head on one hand. "What's in it for me to save you and miss out on a thousand free gil?" Reno's gut reaction was to say her honor and conscience, but the words died on his tongue as her smile twisted across her face. He thought on her words carefully.

"I got too much potential, yo," he replied, and now slouched backwards himself. Lyn laughed.

"You're nine," she replied. "_Any_ potential is a long time in bringing me monetary gain. This is immediate and effortless."

"You sure spend lotsa time lurkin' close by for some measly 1,000 gil," Reno wrinkled his nose, already calmed immeasurably by her familiar presence. Lyn sipped her drink. "What d' you want to be in it for you?"

"Ah, now here we come to a good response," Lyn sat up now and leaned forward. Her eyes scoured and peeled away the layers of Reno's face, prodding and poking inside of his head. Reno could almost feel her rough fingers working through the bone of his scalp, rummaging around for something. "I have need of a little sneak-thief, and I think you're just the weasel for the job." Reno hardly liked the sounds of this, but just grinned away at her, aware that Lyn was waiting for him to lose control. A yammering fear wound around in the back of his head, telling him to bolt for the door and face Corneo rather then linger here with this wolf. At least Corneo was an idiot, but Lyn was too smart.

"I'm not saying yes, but what kind of job?" Reno asked.

"You're not really in much of a bargaining position here, Reno. You've made the fatal mistake of talking to a Turk on his own turf with no alternative options and I know it," Lyn chuckled, swirling the contents of her tumbler. The blue light played oddly off her eyes making them appear to be endless voids. Reno thought on this knowing she was absolutely right and wondering how he could counter it anyway. He picked up a coaster on the table and rolled it back and forth, studying the cardboard and appreciating the texture of the roughly hewn edge as the pads of his fingers guided it. "Anything to say?" she prompted. Reno looked up at her and recalled her words from a year ago. Nobody would be there to help him she had said.

Contrary to her prediction, Reno had never found any reason to doubt Rude. The other boy was quietly sitting at his side, waiting very relaxed for an opportune time to leap into action. He looked cool as water but Reno had known him long enough to tell that his silence was not a blank one.

"What do I get out of this?" Reno asked deciding on a tactic. He reinforced his smile with a wink, tucking his hands behind his head and leaning back again. "Huh toots?" Lyn was amused at the pet name.

"You don't get handed over to Corneo."

"Ain't enough. Corneo's stupid and I could probably get away from him sooner or later," Reno drawled lazily, feeling his muscles relax. His stomach was queasy at the thought of such a thing but he was far more concerned about getting in too deep with Lyn. The window to the terrace was barely fifteen feet away, with Reno positioned the best to make a break for it. Lyn had the table between them, and while there were other Turks around, they didn't look the least bit interested in the game Lyn was playing. "Looks like you just wanna make me a slave too, and you'll be a lot harder to run from."

Lyn raised her glass and gave him an appreciative nod before taking another drink. She swirled it around a couple of times.

"Interesting ransom tactics," she said. She was quiet for another moment as her attention turned to Rude. "You trust this red headed rat completely? He could use a partner." Rude didn't grace her with words, just nodded. "So, Reno. If you can run a little recon for me about a certain man, I'll get Don Corneo off your back and set you up with a job helpin' the Turks."

"No thanks, yo. I don't take hand outs. This is a one night stand, toots," Reno assured her, still not certain what he was getting himself into. "How 'bout just some spare gil?"

"Are you a singin' Canary, Red?"

"Couldn't sing to save my life."

"It's that silence that'll save it. How's 100 gil sound?"

"500," he bartered.

"200."

"400."

"I'll go 350, no higher," Lyn stated finally, and Reno looked over at Rude. Reno was tallying that in his head, happy to find that it was about the going rate for select tidbits of information and plenty to split with Rude. Rude gave a slight nod and Reno stuck his hand out.

"Deal, yo," he agreed. Lyn set her glass down and took his much smaller hand, closing it around in a grip like a falcon's. Reno's smile widened. "I'm _not_ one of your informants now. I get you info this time, you keep Corneo off my back."

"Seems sort of lopsided if you ask me. That's a whole lot of work on my part," Lyn replied, rubbing her chin.

"Too late, you shook on it. Besides, one look at you and Corneo'll go runnin' scared, yo." Reno was smiling and speaking, but his mind was already on how to keep himself out of Lyn's claws. He resolved to consult Lola on the matter as soon as he got home. Maybe the old Hell Cat would have some idea about how to shake Lyn's fangs out. "So, what's this we'll be doing?" Reno asked.

"I need a little information on a certain man. If you go leaking juicy tidbits all around town about this one, I won't have to worry about mopping you up. There'll be plenty of other operatives working for him who'd be happy to do that," Lyn replied, reaching into a bag Reno hadn't noticed she'd had with her. She extracted a stained and battered folder, overflowing with documents. "I can get you in to see him, and you don't even need to talk to him. Just go in and listen to him for a while – two days is all I ask – and then I'll have your escape set up for you. It'll just be a disturbance and security breech, so you'd better be thinking on your toes."

Reno and Rude looked at each other, coming to the disconcerting realization simultaneously that they were expendable. They had gotten in over their heads, and Reno could feel the cogs of the trap closing in around them.

"So, who is it?" he asked lightly.

"His name is Hojo. He's head of Shin-Ra's scientific research and one of the men working on the SOLDIER project." Lyn gave him a knowing smile, and Reno felt himself take the bait; hook, line, and sinker.


	7. Guinea Pig

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 7: Guinea Pigs

What was that rasping noise? That wasn't _him_ was it? Reno gave it another moment, listening to the rattling pull of air and feeling the cold, merciless floor of the sterile cell he had been heaped into along with some other undisclosed number of boys. When he was convinced he was in deed still alive and that it was his breathing grating on his nerves, he peeled his eyes open. Things were blurry and nondescript as sharp light drove fluorescent spines through his vision.

"Hey," he slurred, commanding his burning muscles to move. Weakly he managed to throw his leg towards the still form of Rude. He could hear Rude breathing but the colors of his jacket and dark scalp seemed slightly fogged over. "You alive?"

Rude strained every muscle in his body and managed to roll so that he was facing Reno. He looked paler then usual and his eyes were dilated. Reno pulled his dry lips back in a grin, exposing every tooth he could.

"Good. Didn't wanna be alone, yo…" he said weakly. Rude just blinked at him and swung his eyes towards the ceiling. "What'd they do to us?"

"Drugs…something…" Rude grunted. Reno wheezed a laugh, his shoulders shaking.

"We shoulda asked for more money, yo," he grinned, closing his eyes. The shaking had subsided a time ago and he was just tired and weak. His stomach growled, emptier then it had been in two weeks. He hadn't been this hungry since he'd broken the window to Lola's office and stolen her cache of chocolate. She had starved him for two days before letting him flee to Cassie's for recuperation. As retribution he'd laced Lola's shampoo with red hair dye and now she went around with rusty orange hair.

"What?" Rude asked, perturbed by the grin still lingering on Reno's face.

"Lola's so damn ugly," he snickered. The non sequitur just made Rude close his eyes. "I'm hungry!" Reno whined loudly. "Feed me! I'm dying! Feed me!" Shouting was too much effort so he petered out and closed his eyes. He took some deep breaths, listening to his voice echo overhead.

"You're inviting trouble," Rude warned.

"I'm inviting dinner," Reno countered. He lolled his head over to one side and looked at another boy lying there. He was pale, whiter then anyone Reno had ever seen before. Reno's eyebrows knit together as he studied the slightly parted, bluish lips. There was absolutely no movement, not even the shallow rise and fall of breathing. With significant effort he rolled over and commanded his hand to fall on the other boy's neck. It was icy cold and worse yet, he found no pulse.

Morose fascination descended over Reno as he recalled that this boy had gone just before him in the long procession of children as they were forcibly taken and injected full of drugs. He had been sort of large and lumbering, probably around Rude's age, with a dopy grin that had aimed to keep the other children around him relaxed and consoled. Now he was dead, his lightly tanned skin drained of all color and strange discolorations blotching his skin in patches of sickly yellow.

Reno lay there and wondered how many of the others were still alive. He felt he should get up and check on them. They were fellow slums children like him, the rag tag brothers in arms who used the five finger discount and scrounged for clothing and scraps to survive on. With a moan Reno managed to push himself up onto his hands and knees. Panting, he gave himself time to recuperate, before investing the rest of his energy into sitting on his knees.

The room was like a desolate battlefield around him. Silence hung over them as tangibly as mist. Boys were sprawled all over the floor, even piled on top of each other like potato sacks. Their lives were meaningless, thrown into this room with concrete floors and a drain in the middle to wash away all the evidence of their presence.

A soft chorus of breathing filled his ears but it was not enough for the number of bodies sharing this space. Reno jumped as the heavy metal door to the human storeroom groaned open and people in white trench coats poured into the room. The sudden movement was overwhelming to his eyesight. Colors smudged and edges softened. Reno blinked to clear his vision, struggling onto his feet so he wouldn't feel quite so vulnerable.

"Impressive. He's one of the quickest to recover," sneered a nasal voice. "I do believe that's a record."

"Who the hell are you?" Reno demanded. Soft hands closed over his weak arms. These were hands that had never done a day's hard labor in their life. If he were in better shape he would have pulled himself free.

"Even talking. He'll make a fine SOLDIER," the man snickered. The talking blur gripped his chin roughly, commanding his face to turn upwards. Reno fought for his head and when he couldn't free it, moved to bite the hand instead. The blurry man cackled. "Take him in for the second dose. He seems eager for it."

"I didn't sign my permission slip," Reno whined weakly. He heard a grunt behind him and struggled to turn his head. The bleary doctor allowed him this privilege and it was Rude who was struggling to stand. His whole body shook with the effort but his stoic face was set with determination.

"Ho, ho! Another one!" the blur cackled.

"I-I signed my slip," wheezed another voice. Reno swung his head back the other way and saw a boy with tightly curled auburn hair on his knees. "I wanna be…a SOLDIER!" There was a chorus of other moans and confirmations as the floor began to teem with movement. To Reno it was like one of the paintings on the fallen ceiling of a church, an image of Hell and its fury as these formerly dead bodies began writhing with the effort of standing. They were clinging to life, demanding the right to survive, and fighting for it with every breath.

"Round up the survivors and put them through the second dosage. Whoever survives the first twelve hours gets the detox. Hee hee hee!" The doctor's giggle fit right in with the hellish theme. Reno was urged forward by the soft hands on his shoulders. It was strange to him that they should remind him so much of his mother's hands.

"_Are you listening this time, God?"_ Reno demanded. _"I could use some of that grace Cassie's always talkin' about. So could lots of us."_ He looked heavenward and laughed out loud. It was a stupid prayer. No God would be listening to someone beneath the plates, buried as they were beneath layers of cement and metal, kept alive by the inorganic circuitry that strummed through the mutated and desolate world he called his home.

"What?" Rude asked.

"Cassie likes to pray for me," he said. "I thought I'd give it a try. But then I remembered that we don't have papers to get into church!" he laughed again.

"Dad always said they fudged the census for God and country," Rude agreed.

"What's a senses?" Reno made a face.

"Dunno. But you must need it for God to give a damn." One of Rude's rare grins bloomed across his face meanly. Reno still got caught off guard when Rude gave him a full on smile, and with his eyesight in the shape it was, it flat out unnerved him. Looking over Rude's shoulder, the unusual expression was set against the back drop of white coats pulling up the writhing, weak bodies on the floor.

"I bet the devil doesn't need a senses," Reno grinned back.

"Heard he likes to count his own," Rude agreed. They both laughed and Reno's legs gave out. The soft hands carrying him faltered, then looped beneath his armpits and heaved him back upright. He was thrown over a shoulder, laughing until he sputtered and his eyesight was shimmering with black spots.

The world went dark and Reno thought of Cassie. He wondered if this was dying, and if it was, he'd be sorry that Cassie would never be certain one way or the other. He wished he'd made Lola tell him about Cassie since she claimed to know so much. Then he wondered if ten years from now Lola would still be chewing on a cigar and tromping around in army boots. He thought about Lyn too, and decided that if he could, he would come back an evil spirit and do everything he could to make her miserable.

"Hey Rude…" Reno called, much of the gusto taken out of him. He tried to keep a tremor of fear out of his voice. "I can't see…where we at?"

"Back where they had us before," Rude replied. "Can't see?"

"All black…"

"I've got one that's eyes are going!" called a very close voice. It was a young man by the sounds of him. "Bring me the second dosage! How long have you been blind boy?" He plunked Reno down and grabbed his face, his hands becoming significantly rougher. Reno blinked uselessly.

"Happened just after I stopped laughing," Reno answered.

"Divine punishment," Rude stated from somewhere nearby, causing Reno to laugh.

"Hey! Ow!" Reno wailed, feeling a needle slide into his eye and the ensuing pressure as something was pumped into it. Fingers kept him from blinking, but the tears gathered unbidden to flush the chemicals out. A second needle did the same to his other eye and his hands flew up to tear at the coat sleeves.

"Hold still boy," the young man told him gruffly. Reno felt someone else grab his arm and hold it steady as yet a third syringe slid beneath his skin.

"Stop it!" Reno shouted, feeling the familiar hot burn of chemicals as they began seeping through his veins. "Stop it now!" He wrenched his arm free and fell forward onto the floor. Blind as he was he chose a direction and scrambled, catching his shoulder on something metallic and unforgiving.

"Get him!" the young doctor shouted. Reno kept going, listening to the clatter of feet after him. He heard a heavy thud close by and then felt hands grab him.

"This way!" Rude said, practically throwing Reno over his shoulder. Reno hung on as Rude's rough gate had them flying. Unable to see, the younger boy swung his stinging and burning eyes around uselessly, frantically hoping they would start to work again. This was worse then running from Don Corneo. At least then he could see the devil trailing them.

Rude's bare feet echoed heavily in the hallway but the painful sounding steps were relentless. Reno felt every jerk and swerve of motion as they wove down some corridors and then only knew the blaring alarm sounding over their heads. Reno cringed and felt Rude shy away from an alarm over their heads.

"Put me down! I can run!" Reno commanded. "I can't see, but I can at least follow your lead!" he insisted, hearing the others gaining. Rude had skid to a halt after a sharp turn and thrown them both into a wall painfully, but there was no time for second thoughts. Rude put him down on his feet and took his hand. Reno griped it with white knuckles, startled by the shock of cold metal on his bare toes, and then began running behind Rude.

"Left now," Rude instructed and Reno responded. Rude jerked his arm down another hallway and Reno had to stumble to catch up. They continued this flight with Rude calling their turns as they picked up speed.

"Shit!" Rude stopped on a dime and Reno, unable to see the sudden halt, slammed into his back. The pair of them toppled to the ground rolling with Reno's momentum before they lay painfully tangled on the floor.

"That's far enough," came another boy's voice. "I will not allow any further mockery of the Shin-Ra," he commanded authoritatively. Reno moaned and struggled to sit up. He could feel warm droplets of something on his face and neck, and reached blindly for Rude. The other boy lay motionless half over him, and as Reno's fingers came into contact with his skin he felt warm, sticky blood.

"Rude?" Reno asked, giving him a slight shake. There was no answer. Reno felt his heart rate rising. He groped for the injury and found the deep cut on his shoulder, along with another injury on his head. Rude was still breathing, albeit faintly.

"On your feet," the slightly older boy commanded. Reno searched blindly for him, bitter anger curling his face into a snarl.

"What'd you do to him?" Reno demanded.

"The pair of you ran straight into the blade. It's a wonder he was able to keep from impaling himself," the boy dismissed the troubles. "They haven't finished with you yet, obviously. You're eyes don't have the SOLDIER glow." Reno felt a cold tip of metal beneath his chin and obeyed when it commanded him to lift his face. "Let's go. The medics can take care of your friend."

"I'm not leaving without him," Reno argued.

"Well it seems you're underestimating your worth. I should just kill him here and now. He's not a SOLDIER yet," the boy stated imperiously. Reno grabbed the tip of the sword in one hand so hard it drew blood in his palm.

"Don't you dare!" he commanded.

"You don't have a bargaining chip," the boy seemed to smirk. Reno summoned all his strength and gave the sword a pull, catching his anonymous captor off guard. The boy stumbled and Reno reached for him. He found hair and wrenched it down. He kept pulling until he could feel the boy's breath on his face and the pair of them were roughly eye to eye.

"Don't touch him," Reno repeated. He could feel the surprised sword arm begin to lift and, unable to gauge where the blow would come from or guess how to stop it, Reno slammed his forehead into the other boy's nose. He felt hot blood gush down both faces before he threw the other boy backwards.

"A valuable lesson, wouldn't you say?" snickered the blurry scientist who had collected Reno. "Even trapped rats can flee, eh Sephiroth? You'll have to remember that." Protectively, Reno put his hand down on Rude's chest. "Well, boy. You've proven you'll be a great SOLDIER, resourceful to boot."

"I'll kill him!" the boy named Sephiroth shouted. Reno heard the hiss of a sword.

"No, you won't," the man said softly. Reno felt someone take his chin and roughly jerk his face upward. He was getting tired of being moved like a doll.

"Hands off," Reno snapped, jerking his chin away.

"Hmm, his eyes should regain functionality in a few hours. As to the other…doesn't look like its fatal. Patch him up and put them back in the cell. If they're still alive in twelve hours and if this one can see, move them to detox," the smarmy scientist instructed. Helpless to stop it, Reno just hung on to Rude's shirt as he felt hands fall all over him. It took considerable effort to pry them apart and Reno almost panicked.

"And a word of advice, boy," the professor added as a hand roughly slapped Reno's back. "Don't show a man your weak spot so easily. If I wasn't so interested to see what these new Mako dosages will do to you, I'd carve your friend up just to show you what made him work," he snickered.

"Who are you?" Reno snarled, wishing he had a more specific place to point his face.

"They call me Hojo in the lab. But you, you can just call me _God_."

_- Later -_

"You alive?" Reno heard fuzzily. His eyebrows drew together. It felt like he was listening to someone speak underneath the water. Lazily, his mind rolled over the image of Paul nearly drowning him in a fountain.

"Jay…c'n you go beat the tar outta Paul…?" Reno asked, feeling his brother's rough hand on one cheek.

"C'mon Reno," the voice urged. Reno scowled and peeled his eyes open. The world was a nightmare of hazy shapes and colors, everything around him a hard metallic color or gleaming blue-gray walls with speckled monitors.

"Where are we, Jay?"

"Musta knocked you hard. It's me, Rude." All at once, the brown blur before Reno began to sharpen. Reno could discern his facial features and the empty holes in his ears where his earrings used to hang. There were his honey-brown eyes and that gleaming bald head. Reno looked down, befuddled and ashamed for being disappointed it was Rude and not Jay.

"Where are we?" Reno changed the subject. Rude shrugged.

"Detox room," he explained. Reno took in the other boys laying still and motionless on metal slabs around him, each plugged in and hooked up to enough monitors and IVs that they could have been comatose for years. This hardly seemed like the way to make soldiers.

Reno realized suddenly that he was stuck full of needles, just like that mannequin Cassie's friend used to make new clothes. He shivered. Rude had already untangled himself and was standing with his arm in a makeshift sling next to Reno's bed.

"We've almost been here forty eight hours," Rude said, and Reno nodded. They didn't have much on Hojo. Lyn would be upset. Rude lifted up the clipboard at the foot of Reno's bed and thumbed through it. His eyes detailed it seriously a moment before looking at Reno. "Can you read?" he asked. Reno gave him a slight frown. Was he the only slums kid in all of Midgar with the ability? Mutely, he took the clipboard and squinted, forcing his eyes to focus.

"I don't understand any of this," he shook his head. "I don't know what these words mean."

"We should take it," Rude shrugged. He took the board back and walked to his bed, a little more then an arm's length away. He stuffed it into a pillowcase already filled with the different bags of liquids they were being pumped full of. Reno moved to climb out of bed when a needle in his leg stopped him. He glowered at it. Taking a deep breath he reached down and pulled the tape off. The needle came with it painfully. He winced as his eyes watered, taking a second IV and repeating the process numerous times. If he made it out of here alive, he resolved he would kill Lyn.

He stood on the cold floor in nothing but a hospital shift and cursed his own bad luck. It had been nothing but terrible fortune these last few years. The only good luck had come from Rude. Reno looked over at the older boy as he bundled up the various drugs and documents.

"How do we get out?" Reno whispered.

"I don't know. We're on our own, remember?" Rude answered. Reno gave him a wry smile before turning around and patrolling the room. It was a catacomb of wires and monitors, all connected with sleeping and even dead boys. Reno pitied them as he walked unsteadily past. He wasn't really feeling that great and his eyes kept blurring in and out of focus. Shifting them from here to there in his examination of the room was making him a little seasick.

Rude patted his shoulder and pointed overhead. A camera was watching them dead on, attuned to their every move. Reno just grinned and gave it a wave, continuing his escapade. There was nothing he could do now. If they had any luck at all – which he doubted – the scientists would make some bungling error. It seemed like they weren't used to such rambunctious guests.

Both he and Rude scoured the room but could find nothing to help them escape. A key card was required to go in or out of the detox room and apart from the video camera watching their progress, there was no presence consciously with them. Well, that is if Reno ignored the large, dark, one-way mirror gazing at them blankly. He wondered if anyone was in there.

Rude was sitting on the floor, tired from the search and carrying all their stolen supplies. Reno wandered over to the dominating window and stared at it. He pretended to have a staring contest with his reflection, finding himself out of ideas on how to escape. There was a bolted ventilation shaft high above their heads but not only would they have to build a ladder there, they'd have to tear the grate and the fan inside out, then get lost in the air ducts. That coupled with the fact that the camera was honed in on both of them made it pointless to try such a route.

So he stared at his reflection thoughtfully. His eyes seemed different he reflected, trying to pinpoint the change. He didn't spend time obsessing before the mirror like Cassie so he wasn't particularly familiar with the face staring back at him.

No, there was no way out, he returned to his initial train of thought. Until those idiots bumbled back in, he wouldn't have his chance to escape. And they would take their sweet time, he was sure. They had no element of surprise on their part, only the element of, oh wait, they didn't have any elements with them.

Frustrated, Reno pounced on the glass and smeared his face across it. Part of this was a vain attempt to see through the glass, the other was just to let off some irritated steam.

"What are you doing?" Rude asked.

"Noshing," Reno slurred, leaving a trail of spit across the glass. "Shinking…" he added. He made ploddingly slow progress across the length of the window, feeling the smooth glass rub painfully across his face. He hoped the janitors would hate him for this but then figured they had nastier things to do, like cart off that boy on the bed he was passing, blue with Rigor mortis. A few face smears on the glass wouldn't faze them. Just to be sure he pushed his face flat against the dyed glass and smeared it around a minute.

As an absent thought at provoking them Reno pulled his face away from the glass and rubbed the irritated muscles and tender skin. He stalked over to the blue boy. This boy had been the one so eager to be a SOLDIER, the first one up and speaking after Reno and Rude. It was a pity he didn't make it. Stooping, Reno pulled the plug on his useless life support and watched it shut off. The clicking and whirring was silent.

"Sorry, yo. Hope you don't mind if I rail on some SOLDIERS," he gave the boy a pat. He was unbearably cold, but somehow talking to the corpse made Reno feel better, as if there was still a connection. It was surreal to recall those of them that survived staggering out of that mass grave. Stranger yet was having only heard this boy a few hours ago and now to see him quite lifeless here.

Reno wound in and out of the others and began to unplug the already dead ones, watching their life support share their fate. He wondered if the camera could see all their life signs or if the people behind the one way mirror already knew those boys were dead. He had unplugged all of them with no response before deciding to trash the useless machines. Putting both hands on one he gave it a shove and allowed it to topple down.

Glass and metal shattered with a scream all over the sterile floor. Reno smiled and went to the next unplugged station. He repeated this.

"Get ready for some Hell!" he called to Rude, figuring this would bring them in a rush. Rude just nodded and stood up, looking for something to defend himself with. Reno pushed the second tower over, waiting to hear the guards come rushing in.

They came. The guards entered the room and pounced on Rude. The scientists rushing after them however were clumsy and too worried about the millions of gil being destroyed in their laboratory. The white coats tripped and tangled over the guards, giving a weak Rude just the upper hand he needed. He took to bashing heads with his good fist and as he stood up managed to land a few sound blows with his feet.

Reno dashed towards the fray and pushed a tower connected to a still living boy over, sending it crashing into the writhing heap in the doorway. "Let's go!" He crowed, hoping up the teeming hill and back down. It was only two guards and about three scientists right now but more would be coming. Rude clamored over with more difficulty. Reno took the bag from him and slung it over his shoulder.

"Any thoughts on how to get out?" Rude asked.

"Nope," Reno confirmed with a smile as they dashed down the hallway. They had been moved so many times there was no telling where they were or how to get out.

-_ Lyn -_

Lyn smiled and removed her feet from the consul. Reno's slobber smears ran the length of the entire window and for a moment, she had almost been sure he was staring right at her. My but he was certainly a force of nature. She looked past the one-way mirror and surveyed the wrecked life support systems and the toppled adults at the doorway. Yes, Reno would make a fine Turk one day. And with those extra SOLDIER augments he would be one of the best. Rude complimented him nicely.

The Turk put her shoes down in the sticky mess on the floor. She frowned faintly. It was only this morning she'd tipped a young man handsomely for shining her favorite shoes, and now they were all messy again. Formerly white lab coats were stained red. She had butchered every one in this chamber to get the crucial data Verdot was after about the SOLDIERS project, and then lingered a bit to watch Reno's performance. Now was the perfect time to sound the alarm. It made her happy that Reno was a proactive boy.

She slung the Tommy gun over one shoulder and made sure she had all the data saved. Whistling merrily as she sauntered out of the room she hit the alarm button. Today, rather then her Turks uniform, she was in a pressed white suit. After this job she was supposed to attend a meeting with one of the resistance groups down in Sector Three, which of course would be a set up. Planting a copy of Hojo's data with them was fine and dandy, until Arnaud and Mikhail burst in and blew them to pieces and then claimed that they were sabotaging the government and the SOLDIER project.

Really, it was going to be a fun evening. She smiled at the camera as she walked past so they got a healthy look at her auburn dyed hair and the fake beak of a nose Isabella had pasted to her face. The tattoo over one eyes was a nice flourish, Lyn had to admit. It was too bad it was used for a job or she might have considered getting a real tattoo there.

"Come on now, follow me. Reno provided ample distraction for me to get in, I should only do the same to get him out," she chuckled. Her shoe thudded against a door as she stepped into a lounge area full of startled workers. "Good day to you!" she said jovially, aiming the Tommy gun and dousing the room in lead. "Time for some budget cuts!" she called. "You Shin-Ra bastards have had it!"

She laughed, loving the opportunity to hate the government she worked for. There was nothing quite like a covert operation to get her blood flowing. Swinging back out of the room, Lyn resumed her leisurely walk towards the extraction point. After all, once she hit the slums it would be no trouble at all to lose Shin-Ra security. Really, if it weren't for the Turks, nothing would get done.


	8. Escape

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 8: Escape

Reno blinked away the threatening clouds in his vision until it was clear again. Squinting to focus on the bloody display and ignore the cloying blood coating his throat, he pored over the holographic map of the facility. They had found a security room in a gore spattered massacre, white coats dyed red and disfigured bodies drowning in each other's blood. Reno shuffled his feet and tried not to think about the sticky substance coating them.

"I think we're here," he indicated on the 3-D hologram.

"Aren't there labels? They can't possibly memorize all of this," Rude asked. It wasn't because he could read, but the uncertainty in Reno's tone that prompted his question. Reno glanced at the controls and scoured them. The smaller display panel had a 2-D version of the green hologram hanging before them like a ghost. The muted snarl of gunfire somewhere alerted Reno that the intruder was still present. He tapped a few buttons, marked in letter and number combinations. Computers were not his forte.

The hologram morphed a few times before labels suddenly appeared and a few indicators showed. Another screen hummed to life and he looked over at it. Through the smatters on the camera he could see a tall man in blood flecked white with a Tommy gun mowing down the guards, sauntering along with brazen confidence. He squinted as the man turned, a huge beak of a nose arched off of his face, and winked a tattooed eye at the camera. Lyn, he realized. She was buying time.

"Crazy bastard," he said, a smile twitching on his face. He looked at the map, a chamber glowing red indicating the location of current turbulence. He found their position a few levels above Lyn's. They had climbed a few flights of stairs laboriously, and from the looks of the camera, Lyn was angling for the underground escape route where so many were flooding.

"Should we go out the main entrance or through shipping?" Reno asked.

"Won't the main entrance be a little conspicuous?" Rude asked.

"They won't expect it. That yahoo is moving down here to the evacuation point," Reno showed him, pointing as he went.

"What about guards? There was that Sephiroth boy, right?" Rude asked.

"They won't want all their researchers to die. They'll probably send any force after the yahoo," Reno explained, careful to avoid using her name. It wasn't for her protection but his. If it was discovered they were affiliated they would be in that much more danger. The two gazed at each other, Rude's honey eyes critical as a reckless grin spread over Reno's face, struggling to quell his jittery heartbeat. "What's the worst that could happen?" he said before he could explode with anticipation. Rude's eyebrow jumped but he made no response, collecting the satchel they'd found and stuffed full of their findings. He strung it over his good shoulder, the other still bound to his chest, and motioned to the door.

Blinking again to defog his vision, Reno squatted beside a fallen guard and pulled away the night stick and a small gun loaded with tranquilizers. He held the gun up to Rude. "You're a better shot anyway," he explained as Rude seemed to weigh the small gun in his hand. Reno balanced the baton on his shoulder and heaved the door open. "Ladies first," he indicated. Rude let it pass and walked stoically into the hallway after a brief check.

Reno took point, lowering the baton and grasping it with both hands. He moved quickly down the hallway and peered around corner. Quick spats of gunfire told him that Lyn was still busy downstairs. He wondered how she was going to get away with the slaughter of so many people and decided he didn't want to know. Any woman wielding that much power or serving under someone that safe from repercussions for this act was a terrifying enemy.

Heart pounding he made it to the stairwell by memory and poked his head into the doorway. The alarm shrilling over his head grew more piercing in the echoing chamber and he winced, spotting guards stationed inside just in case. He held up two fingers and pointed inside, hoping Rude would understand.

The bigger boy leaned his back against the heavy metal door and shifted his grip on the tranquilizer gun. With a sudden shove he sighted up one cinnamon brown arm and plugged the first guard. The second was beginning to react and turn the muzzle of something significantly more lethal as the first patted down his gunshot, only to realize what it was in the process of falling unconscious. The second round landed square in the other guard's chest, just below the collarbone. He winced and returned fire, missing in his fright by a fraction. Reno scampered past Rude to scout ahead, grabbing a real gun as an afterthought.

"Two flights," Reno explained. "But we'll come up in a cover shop. No telling what'll be up there." He looked back to see Rude exchanging his tranquilizers for live ammunition. There was a pale sheen of sickness on his face, the muscles wound tight.

"Let's go," he said, his voice thick with fear. Reno grinned to hide his own shaking knees, the weight of the gun in one hand nearly pulling his arm off.

"Just like movie stars huh?" he said, taking a shaky step forward. Rude grunted back.

Scuttling ahead like a wraith, Reno peeped in the windows of the next stairwell and then kept up before carefully cracking the top floor's door. It opened into a sterile hallway, entirely empty. Heart throbbing he carefully pushed the door wider and slid out, wondering if there was an ambush somewhere. "GAME OVER" ran through his mind, and the image of the bloody words running down the screen of his favorite arcade game superimposed itself over his vision. He crept quietly down the hallway and peered around a counter. A nervous knot of guards stood by the door, fingers dancing along the barrels and twitching about the triggers of their machine guns. Going cold, he slunk back and thought frantically about what to do.

Blinking rapidly as his sight fogged, he argued with blindness and chemicals a moment in silence. Rude's head peered around the door, eyebrows high in question. Reno held up six fingers to Rude's grimace.

"I heard it's something internal," one guard whispered loudly, his feet shuffling. Reno froze, ears pricked.

"These are Hojo's labs, right?" another asked. "Isn't he the one in deep for all the secrecy and over spending? I hear he and the brass don't get along."

"But why would this massacre be internal?"

"Maybe it's to teach him a lesson," a third voice interjected. "I wouldn't put it past the president to take answers when they're not given. It's too convenient that someone's attacking after the recent episodes with the SOLDIERs."

The image of Jay's killer flashed through Reno's mind. He reached unconsciously for his goggles, only to find they weren't there. Lyn had them after correctly assuming they'd be stripped of everything. He changed the motion into ruffling his hair and wondered what was wrong with the SOLDIERs.

An idea pinged into his head. Reno crept back to the stairwell and held up a finger for Rude to wait. He moved down the stairs and took the empty tranquilizer from a guard. Clenching his teeth he dug it into his arm. He saw it stick and then ran back up making sure the empty cartridge was visible. He motioned Rude into a corner and handed over his baton and gun. Taking a deep breath, he let the queasiness he'd been struggling to hide show on his face. Exaggerating his exhaustion and adopting a staggering pace with surprising ease, he lurched into the room.

It was a struggle to remain calm and falsely disoriented as he heard six muzzles trained on him instantly. He crashed into a wall. Really losing his balance he careened into the glass display case behind him and felt it shatter, tearing red hot lines along his elbow and arm. He hit the floor, heart throbbing. Looking up slowly, he blinked away the impending fog and squinted.

"H-help!" he gurgled, the unfeigned roughness of his raw throat inching fingers away from their triggers. Pushing his luck he crawled forward and staggered upright.

"He's just a kid," frowned a kind faced, blue eyed man barely even old enough for stubble. He looked around at his partners and then stepped forward, lowering his rifle. He reached out and took Reno's shoulders to steady him. "It's okay now, we've got you," the guard coaxed, kneeling so he was at Reno's height.

"Careful Newt," hazarded an older soldier with dark eyes and deep grooves around them. The blue eyed man's gaze never left Reno as he removed the tranquilizer with a quick jerk.

"There you are. Can you tell me what happened?" Newt asked drinking in Reno's blood soaked appearance.

"Attack," he wheezed, intentionally collapsing and relaxing all his muscles. Newt struggled to support him and then gently lowered him to the floor. The other guards huddled in around the pair, curious and Reno thought he saw flickers of concern.

"Is he one of Hojo's projects?" someone asked, dark skinned. He was the guard who'd predicted the strike was an insider job.

"Must be. Look at him," another answered, indicating all the old IV wounds.

"Should we turn him over?" the dark one asked.

"That might advance our careers a lot!" one said enthusiastically. Reno wondered how he was going to lure them into the stairwell so Rude could crack their skulls.

"We are _not_ handing him back over," Newt said, ice and fire in his tone. Reno looked up, surprised. "I don't care if that's our job, this poor kid has been tortured and unimaginable things have been done to him down there! I can't send him back down there!" Newt gathered Reno's light weight and lifted him effortlessly, cradling him and angling for the door.

"Newt! Not only are you gonna be fired, they're gonna hunt you down!" The older guard exclaimed.

"Let them. I refuse to work for such monsters," Newt replied in a growl.

"W-wait!" Reno exclaimed. Newt looked down. "My friend," Reno pointed back towards the door leading back down. The group collectively shifted their attention. "H-help him….save…"

Newt looked around at the others, his blue, blue eyes poring over the others. He searched the faces about him and a growing look of disgust washed over him. "Will you guys at least get the door for me and stall for time?"

"Newt, bro, how are you gonna get them outta here?" the dark skinned one demanded.

"The less you guys know the better," Newt answered shortly. He shifted Reno in his arms and headed for the door where Rude was crouched. Reno could see the gleam of Rude's honey eyes in a slice of light, watching the scene nervously. With a slight shake of his head and a meaningful look, Reno instructed Rude to not attack their savior.

"Hey there, little guy," Newt coaxed, easing the door open with a boot. Rude was still crouched warily, the gun and baton tucked someplace out of sight. "Come on out, I'm gonna help you guys get out of here."

Slowly Rude unbent into a stand, one hand curled around their satchel of information. Reno's eyes fogged up again as Newt shifted him onto one hip, offering one hand to Rude. The dark skinned boy slung his things over one shoulder and came into the light.

"Newt!" shouted one of the men. Reno focused on burning away the clouds in his eyes. "You'd better hurry! I think someone must have called more security."

"I can run," Reno insisted suddenly, squirming to be set down. Newt gave a surprised grunt as he complied.

"I thought…"

"I didn't want to get shot," Reno grinned, Newt's confused face coming into focus. "Besides, we can move faster this way." Newt's face twisted into a rueful grin.

"You're too smart for me kid. Follow me," he jerked his head, snagging Rude's bag from him. He took off at a jog and seemed surprised when both Reno and Rude managed to kick their abused bodies into a run.

The dark skinned guard moved into their path, machine gun held at his hip with a frightened look in his face. "Newt, we can't let you just walk out of here," he said, swallowing hard. "They'll kill us! You know that! Turn these kids in!"

"I guess I'll just have to overpower you," Newt said, jerking something loose from his hip. There was a loud crack as he threw it onto the floor and yellow smoke hissed into the room. Before the external cloud engulfed him, Reno saw the look of shock on the dark guard. Just after his eyes began to burn and it felt as though he breathed acid. Reno curled in on himself, hacking as gooey tears streamed down his face. Somewhere beyond him there were shouts and the thuds of flesh meeting flesh. Someone grabbed his arm, dragging him forward.

At once they broke free into the cool night air, that hand towing him onward. Reno wrenched his eyes open, searching for Rude. He saw first Newt in his blue Shin-Ra soldier uniform, and then Rude stumbling along with them.

Gravel bit into his feet as they ran down the street, past the main entrance. Everything was lit by yellow streetlights, but there was a peculiar blue silver shadow they would cross into between each post. He looked up and his breath caught in his chest.

A ghastly moon hung in the sky, peering at them in a cloudless night. It was the most beautiful thing he'd seen, a vicious sickle hanging like a wicked smile. In his rapture he tripped, skidding as Newt's hand around his wrist pulled him forward.

"Come on!" Newt grunted, heaving Reno back up. Without allowing time to feel the cuts on his knees Reno started running again. Behind them there were shouting voices and the growls of fired up engines. Newt took a hard right towards a dark parking garage. He released Reno while fishing for something. They halted at a beat up truck with canvas over the back, one of the transport convoy vehicles.

"I always thought being a driver was the worst thing," Newt shot the boys a crooked grin. Reno had found his way to Rude, panting as he absently clutched a fistful of Rude's hospital gown.

"Maybe this is one of those mysterious things God's supposed to take care of," Reno panted, making Newt smile.

"In you go, get in!" the brunet commanded, scooping them up and throwing them into the cab. He jumped in after them, revving the engine as he slammed the door. "Hold onto something!" he instructed, throwing the truck into reverse and peeling out.

Reno was thrown into Rude with the momentum. He clung to Rude lest he go flying across the seat into Newt, their peculiar savior. The soldier had a strange look of determination on his face, eyes flicking between the road and the rearview mirror. After a lifetime of treachery Reno couldn't quite fathom why Newt was helping them.

"What are you doing?" Reno asked before he could stop himself.

"Helpin' two kids," Newt replied as if this should be quite natural. His eyes remained fixed on the road.

"They could kill you,"

"They could kill you too, but only if they catch us," Newt shrugged. He took a hard turn and swerved. The splatter of gunfire made Reno and Rude wince, but Newt remained focused. There was an unbelievable calm about him, an alertness Reno had never seen before.

"Aren't you scared?" Reno pressed.

"There's no time," Newt said. "Besides, I've got a brother your age. It scares me to think 'what if the Shin-Ra did this to him?' Maybe now I'm putting in some good karma for him, so maybe someday somebody will help him too." Newt turned from the road long enough to smile at Reno.

Something in Reno shifted, moved by the angelic sincerity there. Newt's eyes were back on the road but Reno ingrained his profile. The bluer than blue eyes, the slightly mussed coal hair, the friendly set of his handsome young face. Reno hoped maybe one day he would have the opportunity to help Newt too.

Gunfire snarled after them and Newt swore, jerking the steering wheel around. He turned it sharply and the truck began spinning. Reno clutched Rude who curled forward, braced against the dash. With a last scream of the wheels the truck tipped. Both boys were flung into Newt's chest as he caught them, protecting them from the worst of the impact.

They lay a tangled heap for only a few seconds before Newt was sorting them out painfully. He stuffed them through the back window into the canvas cover of the truck bed. Reno went first, stumbling with sharp pains shooting down his spine. Bits of glass shook loose from his hair as he turned to offer Rude a hand. Rude took it and sent them both sprawling, only to be near doused by their bag of medical supplies. It was wet, some of the containers broken and leaking their contents.

Grunting, Newt followed with his machine gun. Reno took the gun for him and he strained to squeeze through the small window. As Reno held the gun and Rude collected their supplies, he saw the shrapnel caught in Newt's side. The blue of his uniform was dyed purple, blooming in lethal beauty.

"You're hurt," Reno's eyebrows came together. Newt laughed laboriously, ruffling Reno's hair as he stepped down.

"I'm fine," he answered, lying. He took a knife from his boot and cut the top of the canvas open, climbing out first. Rude followed and Reno was the last out, following Newt's catlike movements to the front of the tipped truck. The soldiers were all waiting on throbbing bikes, a group of five, machine guns trained on the wreckage.

"Reno, in the bed there should be some rope." Newt instructed softly. "We're on the sky way over sector seven. It's about sixty feet to the ground from here, but that rope should reach to about a rooftop with a…well, a painful drop." Newt trained his sights on some of the dismounting soldiers, approaching warily. He popped around the corner and let off a short burst of machine gun fire. Their pursuers fell back to their bikes and two scurried to the truck for cover. "I'll keep them busy."

"But Newt," Reno argued.

"Just do it," Newt barked, his blue eyes flashing coldly. "Here," he handed Rude a hand gun with a few magazines. "See if you can keep those ones on our flank wary enough to buy you time." Rude nodded mutely, accepting the gun and creeping along the truck's former roof. "Hurry Reno." Another short burst sent men scampering and one screaming to his death.

"Roger," Reno stuffed his concern under a smile. He scrabbled into the truck bed and hunted in the overturned contents for a rope. A series of bullets tore through the belly of the truck close to his head. He jumped and scrabbled on all fours onward. With some hurried rooting he came across a long, thin rope and dragged the bundle back out.

He came out in time to see Rude plug a soldier in the leg and watch the man get dragged behind cover by his friend. Newt was breathing in shallow gasps as Reno tied a knot around one of the flimsy metal rails at the shoulder of the sky way. He tested the knot and threw it over the edge.

"Go," Newt hissed at Rude, changing his clip and dousing the road with lead. Rude scrambled across the pavement. Reno took the bag from him.

"Hide under the bridge. They'll just think we climbed down," Reno whispered. Rude nodded and shimmied down the rope fearlessly. He swung and vanished after a moment under the bridge. The rope swung back empty. Reno glanced at Newt, his face outlined in bits of fire from the crash. It was determined and beautiful.

"Get going kid."

"I can't leave you," Reno shook his head.

"I'll be right behind you," Newt nodded, offering Reno a reassuring smile. Reno gave him a lingering look of hopeful disbelief before turning away.

Reno shimmied down the rope and swung. Rude was braced in some of the underside support beams, wedged almost invisibly in a metal triangle. Reno managed to swing up to wrap his legs around a beam, the sound of other motorcycles growling closer. With some maneuvering and disregarding the bite of metal into the hand not carrying the satchel, Reno was sitting upright. He stuffed his feet beneath him, mindful not to look down, and managed to shimmy along the narrow ledges a little further into the bridge.

Tires above squealed to a stop and more gunfire ensued. Boots clipped and Reno heard them fan out, working to surround Newt. There was a strange sound of sawing, and then the rope was free and hissing as it fell. Reno squeezed his eyes shut, screaming silently inside. He'd wanted to believe Newt would follow…

There was a particularly vicious burst of gunfire, the sounds of it pelting metal, and then a wrenching explosion. Bits of shrapnel flew over the side of the bridge as a chunk of road between Reno and Rude came loose. It fell away to crash into the streets below where screams erupted.

Rude peered through the gap intensely, his brow pinched as he watched something overhead. Reno, much closer to the edge, heard the scrape of boots.

"Fuck," Newt rasped, his body struggling for breath. He was practically right over Reno.

"Explain yourself soldier," barked what must have been an officer.

"I have a soul," Newt wheezed, chuckling. His amusement was cut short by something.

"Where are they?" the officer demanded.

"Loose the hounds, but I won't tell," Newt replied. There was the sound of gun cocked and Newt's continued laughter. Reno bit down on his tongue, covering his mouth. A gunshot exploded, echoing in Reno's mind. Wide eyed, he turned towards the side they had climbed over. Something dark was tumbling down, falling away towards the ground.

It slammed against a roof, rolled down the shingles and tumbled to the ground below. Reno shut his eyes, knowing who it was. He thought of that smile, outlined in firelight, smeared with blood, encouraging him that it would be alright.

_I hate the Shin-Ra,_ he thought with sickening clarity.


	9. Square Deal

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 9: Square Deal

"Easy," Reno grunted as he opened the door to the Turk hangout. Rude's arm was heavy over his shoulders after limping through most of sector seven injured and drugged out. The fatigue and wounds of their exploits, not to mention the emotional trauma of the recent days was near enough to kill them.

The dark bar was not as full of patrons as it had been on their last visit. Reno helped Rude ease onto one of the leather lounge chairs before wiping sweat off of the dark boy's forehead. He looked pale and strained.

"Wait here. I'll go and find Lyn," Reno instructed.

"Don't do anything stupid," Rude caught Reno's hand, a serious look in his eyes masking the fear underneath them. The world had become a very different place between visits. Reno smiled somberly.

"I ain't got no energy to be doing stupid things with yo," he promised. Rude let him go as his eyes rolled back, breathing laboriously. Reno straightened out the sleeves of the dark blue hoodie he'd nabbed from a clothes line and tightened the belt on the over-large, ratty jeans. They were still both barefoot, the hems of Rude's cargo jeans bloodied from gravel and debris as he'd trod through. The smiling thumbs up cartoon character plastered across the older boy's chest seemed morosely out of taste too.

Reno turned with the satchel still over his aching shoulders. Stuffing his hands in his pockets he marched up to the bar where a balding ash blonde was cutting fruits and vegetables, unconcerned by his underage guests.

"Is Lyn here?" Reno asked. The bartender glanced up, hazel eyes watery. They wandered over his inquisitor and he shook his head.

"No," he answered. His gaze flicked at Rude, mostly dead on a chair. "She's usually in pretty soon though. Here, on the house for you and your friend," he reached beneath the bar and produced a couple of cool unmarked bottles. Popping the caps off with his burly hands he handed them over. Reno gave him a perplexed look. "Good for pain and injuries. Non-alcoholic, mix of Shin-Ra medication's finest cure spell and a little old world magic from Gongaga. Works like a charm," he explained. "Turks swear by 'em."

"Thanks," Reno nodded, taking the two bottles and stiffly making his way back to Rude. "Here bud, drink this," he offered the glass.

"Don't taste good, but drink it up!" the bartender called as Rude winced at a smell of it. Reno took a whiff of his and nearly gagged. The boys shared a look.

"Anything to make the pain stop," Rude shook his head.

"Cheers chump," Reno clicked glasses. They both pinched their noses and took hearty draughts. In unison their face wrinkled and both gagged, but the cool brew settling in their suddenly growling stomachs was soothing. "I'm so hungry," Reno half wilted, the bottle held loosely in one hand as he slouched. "I'm calling Cassie...tell her to cook dinner."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rude asked, his eyes fixing on Reno with that same look of fear. Reno was consumed for a moment by the memory of Newt's fire edged face, his blue ember eyes calming despite his own damnation.

"You're right. After we're done…I'll call her on the way home," Reno agreed. He sat down in the space Rude made beside him. As soon as he was down he felt exhaustion crash over him. He was conscious long enough to take another drink before he set his head on Rude's shoulder and fell asleep.

When next he came to he was aware of cigarettes and murmuring talk around them. He was careful to leave his eyes shut as he tried to figure out where he was. The leather of the chair was under one hand and he recognized the sinewy iron of Rude's shoulder. Something was draped over top of them. More voices had gathered in the bar and soft jazz wound through the air.

"Yeah, yeah, six fours," someone was saying not far away.

"Seven fives," another man intoned. There was the chink of a glass.

"What are all of you afraid of? Ten sixes." _That_ was Lyn's voice. Reno's eyes opened and everything was a bit blurry. He blinked a few times to let them focus.

"Hey now, those are some eyes," another man said, this one significantly younger.

"He's my little SOLDIER boy," Lyn replied, and her wolf features leaned into his vision. She sat in a white button down with her sleeves rolled up, the tie mostly undone with damp hair. Those golden eyes smiled at him with pride. "Finally come to, huh boy? You've a good friend who'll let you sleep on his shoulder as long as you did, Red," she added. Rude's muscles tightened and Reno listened as the dark boy clenched his jaw. "Let me get you your drinks," she said, standing up. She looked a bit sore herself as she sauntered off to the bar stretching.

"Wow, so these were the ones Lyn had go in for Hojo's treatment," said the young voice. An auburn haired man with a patch over one eye leaned in. "They've both got the Mako glow, look at them."

"Just think of the animals they'll be when they recover. I'm kinda glad alls I got was a couple of spent kittens," Lyn chortled, placing a cold bottle on the side of Reno's neck. He jumped up, rubbing his neck while throwing her a filthy look.

"Don't you know not to wake a man like that, woman?" he groused to the amusement of those around him.

"Drink up, Red," she brushed it off as he accepted the drink. Rude shifted and they both pinched their nose and downed the concoction in unison. The gathering laughed.

"They've already got the process down," the auburn haired man chuckled. A graying red head smirked.

"Natural Turks to have made it out of there alive."

"I have fine eyes for talent," Lyn preened.

"We're not Turks," Reno said sternly. Lyn's smile spread.

"Yet," she corrected him.

"Never," Reno reiterated. "This was a one-time deal, toots." There was more laughter around the table and Lyn just shrugged as she lit up a Junon Jezebel cigarette. A playful smile lingered on her face as she studied him under the veil of her short, gray white eyelashes.

"Finish your drinks, kiddies," she instructed and snatched one of the upside down cups on the table exposing a handful of dice. The others began lifting their cups too, including two others Reno hadn't noticed before. Swears went around the table as Lyn cackled, swiping crumpled bills and gleaming coin towards herself.

"I told you not to be a chicken in this game," she scoffed. "Sayyid! Come lose a few rounds for me!" Lyn waved at a dark skinned, longish haired man. He pushed off the bar and approached with his hands in his pants pockets, ink black eyes fixed on Lyn dubiously.

"Just because I can't load my dice like you can," he scoffed.

"That just means you'll never climb up the pay grades," Lyn replied as she stood. "Come on tikes, finish your drinks. We're headed up and outside for a little chat." Reno and Rude once more pinched their noses and chugged.

"Aw, shit," Reno moaned after his first attempt at rising. All the muscles in his body protested.

"Put your mind over your body, and push it apart," Lyn pinched his ear. Reno jerked his head away as she chuckled. Through sheer force of will Reno got to his feet. Rude was up and unsteady, face set stoically. Together they tottered a bit unstably after her, climbing the stairs, and pushing out onto the upstairs balcony.

The muggy, pungent air of sector six's Wall Street hit them. It wrapped about them, timelessly dark, the buzz of neon lights and bar music carrying over the crowds below. It was comforting to be back in a familiar element at least. It didn't stop Reno from looking up at the distant plates, remembering the frigid, untouchable smile of the moon. He closed his eyes, recalling the blue silver shadows, only to have Newt's earnest gaze resurface.

"I heard about the soldier that helped you out," Lyn said, guessing his thoughts. There was an unusual note of sobriety in her tone.

"You don't know anything about him," Reno gave her a surreal smile.

"If you don't want more do-good Samaritans like him to die, you'd better hone that instinct and skill in you Red," Lyn replied. Reno bit back on a snarl and turned his back to her.

"With all due respect," Rude spoke now. "You should do your own dirty work."

"Bold words from Tonto here," Lyn laughed.

"His name's Rude," Reno looked over his shoulder at her. "You should probably remember it, you dog faced bitch." He turned now with his discordant smile. Lyn returned the grin.

"Cherry Cheese Cake came by a few days ago raising Cain," she leaned back. "You know she's pretty cute in that little green visor. It's a shame she has such poor taste in men. But then again she's head over heels for you, Red."

"What's she have to do with any of this?" Reno demanded.

"I'm just saying you think this is a one night stand, Red, but you've tangled yourself up in more ways than one. You realize I'm the only thing between you and Corneo, and that I could always toss you back over to Hojo." She examined here nails while ashing her cigarette absently. Reno laughed, a sudden reflex he didn't have to force. He could feel the blood all over him and the sin of Newt's death wrapping him in chains.

"Do you have my goggles?" Reno demanded when he could talk around the chuckles. Lyn reached below the collar of her shirt and pulled them off, tossing them back. Reno strapped them on and pushed them into his hair. "A guy told me I'd need my eyes, and this jackal woman said that there were no rules in this brave new world," he informed her. "So all I have to do is make up my own rules and outsmart yours. I could turn you in for massacring all those lab techs."

"Little old me? I was out for drinks," Lyn laughed with a shark's gleam in her eyes.

"Hojo probably wouldn't mind a rib shot to you Turks after what happened at his place. I bet he'd be happy to listen and put your pictures side by side," he said, making her laugh crescendo.

"You think something like that would scare me?" she demanded.

"Maybe not now, but how much do you wanna gamble?" Reno prompted. Lyn's smile tamed a moment as she read him and then strengthened when she made her decision.

"What do you say to this, Tonto?" Lyn demanded. Rude remained silent. Lyn's eyes flicked to him.

"Me?" he lifted his eyebrows mockingly. Lyn laughed.

"_Rude_, your thoughts?" she corrected herself, conceding defeat.

"We're not a set of your loaded dice," Rude replied. "You might cast us just to find an unwanted set of snake eyes." Lyn looked between the pair of them, both sets of honey and green Mako glowing eyes fixed on her with bold determination. She leaned back after a moment to blow a smoke ring.

"So I find a pair who might be worth a damn," she said in all seriousness. "Hand over your findings and I want a blood sample, and we'll consider our business conducted and square for now."

"For now?" Reno prompted.

"Can't blame a girl for asking the occasional favor. And who's to say you might not need one yourself someday?" Her smile returned full force. Reno removed the satchel from his back and put it on the table. She opened it and pulled out a water smeared clipboard, still legible, along with several of the remaining substances that had been pumped into them. The other bags had labels on them declaring their contents. Her eyes ran over them, nodded once, and she snapped her fingers at a passing waitress with cuff links and a short blue skirt.

"Bring me one of those med kits, munchies, and juice," she instructed. The waitress bobbed a curtsey and walked with long strides to do as she was told. Lyn glanced down at the paperwork then back up to her two charges. "Here's the cash compensation, by the way." She tossed an envelope at them. Reno came to sit beside Rude and opened it. Together they counted out their measly pay.

"What are you gonna do with yours?" Reno asked since Lyn had fallen silent. Rude shrugged.

"Buy the family a nice meal," he guessed. "You?"

"Cassie's Christmas present. A camera so she'll stop looking so damn strange framing everything with her fingers," he demonstrated.

"Could be worse," Rude cautioned. "Paparazzi then."

"I'm not camera shy," Reno shrugged. "Better be careful though or the Paparazzi will shoot you too."

The waitress reappeared with a med kit along with chicken tenders, French fries, a smattering of vegetables, and a couple slices of cake. She handed each boy a bottle of apple juice with a smile and deposited her goodies before departing.

"Eat up," Lyn prompted as she opened the med kit. Reno and Rude glanced at each other. Lyn reached forward and popped a fry in her mouth, proving it wasn't poisoned. She came and sat beside them as Reno wasted no time digging in. Taking one of his arms she swiped some cold liquid across the filthy, puncture ridden skin.

"Boy, they really went all out on you," she commented idly, tracing a vein a bit further down. Reno glanced at it and wished he hadn't as she plunged the slender metal into his skin. He tore through a chicken tender, squirming as she held his arm steady.

"All done," she told him, moving around to Rude with a new syringe. Reno rubbed his arm only a few seconds before going back to their dinner. He was so hungry. Rude offered his arm without complaint and didn't wince as his blood was taken. Lyn looked pleased with her haul and sat across from them as they devoured every scrap on the plate. Reno was sighing delightedly as he obtained the last chicken tender only to have Rude lean over and snatch it right from his fingers.

"He-what-the-hey!" Reno stammered, swiping back for it. Rude popped it into his mouth.

"I'm bigger," he answered. Reno snorted but made no further complaint.

"Well, it was nice conducting business with you gentlemen," Lyn smiled, offering her hand. Reno eyed it warily before cautiously accepting. Her firm shake and almost honest smile were another contrast. Rude shook with her as well and then they hobbled up together, both moaning. "You know now at least how to get in touch with me," Lyn smiled. She followed them downstairs.

As he passed the bar the old bartender nodded to him. They shuffled towards the front door feeling like they'd cheated death somehow. Reno looked over his shoulder and saw Lyn stooping to pick up her jacket, which she must have draped across them as they slept. They closed the door behind them and looked at each other.

"Want to come with me to Cassie's?" Reno asked.

"Maybe tomorrow. My mom must be really worried," Rude shook his head. "I'll walk you to Cassie's though. You're a trouble magnet." Reno laughed and they started towards the train tracks.

They shuffled through the colorful masses, Reno too tired to even pick some outrageously exposed pockets. Colors blurred in and out of his troublesome vision, though Reno sensed it was getting better. Wearily they waited underneath a streetlight for the train, and shuffled on mindlessly to slump into a corner seat. Reno didn't realize he'd fallen asleep on the train or that he'd been carried back until he heard Cassie's voice.

"Darryl! Landon!" Cassie gasped as light shone down on Reno. He struggled to open his eyes but his body wouldn't listen.

"Shh," Rude hushed her, moving inside as she must have been urging. He heard the door close and felt Cassie rush past.

"Toss him in there on the bed," Cassie instructed. Reno let himself be carried away and then felt Rude strain as he put him down.

"Sorry yo…" Reno sighed, managing to crack an eye. Rude gave him a rare grin, sleepy and full of too many emotions. "You're tired, stay here bro," he urged.

"I gotta at least call," Rude sighed.

"You can use my phone Darryl," Cassie offered, motioning to the kitchen.

"Thanks," Rude nodded, groaning as he stood. Cassie smiled after him and sat down on the bed beside Reno.

"Oh kid," she said, her baby blues gleaming with tears in the light from the other room. Her room was dark, smelling like lilac shampoo and cigarettes. Cassie leaned over him, sausage curls brushing his cheeks as she kissed his temple. "I was so scared, Landon," she said, her voice strained. He felt a warm drop of her tears on his cheek. Reaching up he put a hand on her face.

"It's okay Cassie," he assured him, thinking about those blue, blue eyes of Newt's. "Everything's alright," he lied, smiling for her when she leaned back.

"Please don't do that again Lan," she begged, kissing his forehead and getting up. She went into the other room where Rude's voice was softly burring on the phone. He heard the water flip on and then saw Rude and Cassie standing by the door. "Darryl you both look like you've been through Hell," Cassie said softly.

"Just the usual scuffles," Rude replied with a shrug, accepting a glass of water.

"You look half dead Darryl!" Cassie whisper-shouted.

"We're alright Cassie. Please don't worry about us," Rude consoled. "Besides, he's got me." Cassie sighed but seemed to relent.

"You two are going to give me gray hairs. This didn't have anything to do with the Turks?" she jabbed a finger at him.

"No ma'am," Rude shook his head, lying quite convincingly. Cassie stood disbelieving but decided to push it no further. The two of them entered her room and Reno felt Cassie climb into bed and scoot him over.

"Cassie," he muttered, snuggling up to her side. "I missed you," he sighed, feeling her curl her arm around him. Rude slid into bed and settled on her other side. Cassie put her arm around him too.

"You two dogs," she sighed as Reno took a breath of her perfume. "You're going to make me old before my time." Reno just smiled.


	10. Requited

Chapter 10: Requited

Reno's shoes scuffed against the iron scraps he picked his way to Cassie's place after work. The grease monkey jumpsuit with an oil stained, grinning chimp over his heart was half off him now, the arms tied like a belt around his waist. Midgar slums were getting cold. Reno faintly remembered being buried in a pile of leaves raked together by his mother before the plates went up, the russet leaves stuck in her auburn curls. Now of course there were no trees in the rotten underbelly of their polluted metropolis, but the chill edge conjured the fall time images on sappy cards.

He sniffed under his arm as he ducked under a bridge of wrecked crane, something the children played on in the junk heap shortcut he took between the police station and Cassie's place. He smelled alright but for a lingering perfume of refined mako and road grunge. His current work for a Wutain Mechanic had him doing everything from crawling into engines and behind boilers to building computer drives from salvaged scrap. It was interesting work except for the grueling hours and his boss, one Kaitou Sasuke, sent him out for all the difficult, inconvenient tasks.

But, such was the luck of an Orphan. Lola had paired him up with Kaitou about four years ago after Reno had tried the five finger discount only to be caught by an iron hand. It was actually Detective Quincy Drake's suggestion after Reno had been hauled into the station and Lola was about to land a boot up his backside. Kaitou had agreed and Reno had been an indentured servant ever since.

Hopping a fence Reno slid down a greasy metal slope and trod across moldy cardboard to come upon Cassie's little place, a Frankenstein creation of various juxtaposed and welded bits of tin. The lights inside were glowing cheerfully. Reno had installed the electricity himself with Kaitou's help about two years back. Cassie's was the only place on the block with solid electrical work not pirated from neighboring streets. He'd saved an entire year of his pay for that gift, one Cassie flaunted and adored.

"Rude!" Reno called, spotting his athletic companion approaching perpendicular to him. The Milano looked up, his mako enhanced eyes glowing oh-so-faintly. Six feet easily, eighteen year old Rude was the local heartthrob. The girls up and down Cassie's street and a few blocks jousted for his attention, not to mention bar women did more than hint at their intentions.

"You're on time?" Rude asked.

"Like I would miss card night at Cassie's," Reno snorted. In his usual silence Rude withheld the obvious statement that Reno was so hopelessly lovesick he may as well have just proposed and been outright rejected already. Instead Rude just reached out with one long sleeve and scrubbed some grease off Reno's face. Together they made for the porch and let themselves in after just a brief rap.

Inside the glowing franken-hut were a small handful of rough slums men and a few garishly decorated neighborhood girls. Reno and Rude knew them after countless nights gathered around the scrap-built poker table Cassie's boyfriend Dane had constructed. Dane himself was sitting, dark eyed and mean with the cards whirring between his fingers. His eyes glanced up at Reno and hardened. The rivals acknowledged each other with grim looks.

"Landon! Darryl!" Cassie called and was suddenly upon them. She was all hugs and kisses as usual. It pleased and wounded Reno each time her cherry lips touched his cheek and made him ache when she pressed so close against him. The slimness of her frame in his arms and softness of her curls beneath his fingers made it nearly impossible to release her, every time more difficult. But he let her go so she could greet Rude too as her cheap perfume lingered and he closed his fingers in memory of her close proximity.

"Come in, strangers! Sit down!" Cassie insisted as she took Rude's jacket and ushered them towards her poker table. They moved to take their seats as Dane's eyes sought to immolate Reno. Pointedly ignoring him Reno promptly struck up a conversation with Samuel to his right.

The next time Cassie walked past made the hair on the back of Reno's neck stand up. She was distributing beers as Dane dealt. When she came to him the older man stopped her with a hand to the thigh and commanded a kiss which she provided. Reno smothered the urge to punch the man for the smile shot in his direction.

Poker night actually was so fraught with emotion every week that Reno was never sure if he actually enjoyed it or not. It would be grand if Dane was busy working but he was always there. These days it was like he was ever present in Cassie's shadow. Whenever Reno dropped by for an unexpected visit there was Dane, lounging on her couch or busied with some task about the place. This had been the case since Reno hit fourteen.

"Not that card," Cassie said from behind him as she put one hand on his shoulder. He went wire tight at her sudden proximity behind him and her warm fingers on his rapidly heating bare shoulder. The stripe of thin, cotton wife beater was the only separation between their skin as her hand slipped down towards his chest to unconsciously settle below his collar bone when she leaned forward. "This one will be much better." He did as she instructed. "I thought I taught you better," she patted his chest with a chuckle and moved to go.

"Maybe I need a little of that reeducation Boot-faced Lola's always going on about," he pressed her hand back against his chest as his heart pounded, realizing he was openly flirting with her in front of Dane. There was a dark look of hatred slowly growing in the other man's eyes. Reno waited to hear her reply as every nerve tingled.

"I hardly think this is what Lola meant," Cassie laughed sweetly as her china blue eyes danced.

"Come on, don't abandon me now," Reno begged.

"You snot nosed kid," Cassie snickered. "You used to sit in my lap at the game tables when you were a kid. What are you really up to?"

"No good," he assured her with a wide smile as he met her eyes. For the first time something passed behind Cassie's blue eyes and there was a subtle shift in her expression. She seemed to read his face, understand it on some base level.

"Babe, don't play with kids," Dane said. She jumped and looked at him beckoning to her. Her smile flashed back into place and she left Reno to take a place on Dane's knee. The dark man smirked as Reno tried to smother the urge to kill him. He focused instead on his cards and the mindless chatter around them.

The rest of the evening finished oh so slowly and Reno practically bolted out the door as everyone dispersed. In fact he was so fast out of there he had no idea he'd left until he stood panting under a streetlight. His chest was drawn so tight with frustration and anxiety he didn't know what to do.

The heavy hand on his shoulder made him jump and spin around. His reflexive right cross was stopped by Rude's firm hand. Reno immediately went lax.

"Sorry," he shook off the adrenalin and put some space between them. Rude shrugged. Reno touched the spot on his chest where he could still feel the outline of Cassie's petal soft fingers burning through his shirt. "Not my night," he grinned crookedly.

"Not mine either," Rude agreed as he turned out his empty pockets. Reno laughed and pulled out his wallet.

"I've got some leftover for a beer," he pulled out a few bills. They took again to walking, this time Reno aware of Rude's presence. Unlike their normal, one sided conversation punctured by Rude's few comments they were silent. Reno didn't feel like complaining and Rude respected the fact he was out of sorts. So Rude purchased a couple of beers from a local convenience store and they found their way to the top of a scrap iron heap to stare up at the ghastly illumination of the distant plates.

"Do you think it's different up there?" Reno asked as he cracked open one bottle lid.

"For us? Worse," he shook his head. Reno snorted.

"Probably right. Bilge rats like us up there? They'd smell us no matter how many times we washed up." Reno looked back down and around the garbage heap in which he lived. It looked so much uglier tonight than it ever had. Rude just nodded.

"We'll make it up there one day anyway," Reno said again after a moment. He swirled the beer and took another gulp. It was cheap swill. "We're not going to die down here, not in this place." His mind flashed to Lyn and the promises she dangled with her predator's smile. Part of him felt a little chill sweep down his spine at the thought.

"Cassie's here," Rude pointed out softly.

"I'll take her there too," Reno shrugged and stood up. "Sorry I was so lame tonight. Here I am crying like a girl when we've got bigger fish to fry." With a resilient laugh he raced agilely down the scrap slope. Rude was on his heels and the landed back on the filthy streets and the greasy yellow light illuminating them. "See you tomorrow after work," he waved to Rude as they headed in their separate directions.

Rather than home though – back to Lola's – Reno arched back around and made for the shop. It was just a brisk walk away and he wasn't worried about the thugs starting to mill in the streets. He hadn't lived here all his life to be startled by some flexed muscles and bad attitudes. Instead he kept moving and worked around their usual haunts until he arrived and let himself into the closed up shop. For all Sasuke's brutality the man made sure Reno had crash space in a pinch.

As luck would have it the Wutain mechanic was still in the garage, half swallowed by a bestial old truck. The rusted tub was barely holding together as Sasuke fought to resurrect it. Reno shuffled forward with his hands in his pockets to peer under the hood, careful to keep out of the lighting.

"You always here," Sasuke grunted. "Dis not good night for you. Every week you come here with same sad face on same night. You find new girl. Dis one no good." His thick accent was almost comical, particularly as the little man looked up covered in smoky grease from an earlier fire over the engine.

"What would you know about it?" Reno scoffed as he reached for the tool Sasuke needed. The Wutain man took it, all of him whipcord muscle despite the fact he was rapidly coming up on seventy.

"I old now, but in Wutai I was very famous samurai. I know many women," Sasuke lectured as he pried a melted part loose. "Trust me. Dis one no good. She like you chase but no want to play. Woman like dat only make pain. Pride say you find different one. You go fix breaks," he pointed with the wrench at another junker.

"Yeah, yeah," Reno sighed as he crawled under an equally abused car to begin his work.

They worked all through the night until Sasuke opened the garage and went out for breakfast, leaving Reno in charge. There was always plenty to be done and the work kept him from remembering how rotten he felt or how tired he was. He was up to his elbows installing a new alternator when someone touched his back lightly.

He jolted upright, tearing open his arm and slamming his head into the hood of the car so hard he saw stars. "Shit! What is it?" he turned around snarling as the world continued spinning. Warm hands took him as he sagged back against the bumper, heart thundering in his chest.

"Jesus Landon, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Cassie hissed. She was in an old, oversized coat with her curls piled atop her head in an elegant mess. Her cheeks were rosy with the morning chill and the flush of alarm at his sudden reaction. "Look at you!" she snatched his hand, the gash torn down the side from elbow to pinky knuckle.

"You scared the shit out of me," he argued back, flustered and angry as he touched his aching head. His hand came away bloody as a hot finger of something slipped down between his shoulder blades. Cassie pulled him up and dragged him to the office. She shirked her coat and pulled down the rusted metal box Sasuke kept his medical supplies in. It clanged onto the document strewn desk in the office that smelled like stale bodies and oil.

"Keep that arm over above your heart," Cassie instructed as he moved to put it down. With a sigh he did as she commanded and rapidly found a towel wrapped around his head to dampen the bleeding there and Cassie smothering his wounded arm in disinfectant. In another moment she had a needle threaded and his arm twisted across her towel draped lap. He had to lean over his knees as she began stitching him up, grimly refusing to complain against the pain.

"You know you dipped out yesterday pretty quick," she said as the silence grew between them. Reno's pulse quickened as he realized they were the only two people there. Dane was nowhere to be seen. "You didn't even say goodnight."

"Sorry," he replied blandly as her soft fingers pinched the wound shut in a gentle contrast to the nauseating prick and slid of the needle and thread.

"That's all you've got to say to me?" she jerked the thread intentionally. He winced and glared up at her. In her profile he saw the dampness of frustrated tears building, making her eyes gleam like freshly painted china. It sent a knife through him as a curl dislodged and tumbled in the way. She tossed it back and took the opportunity to scrub those tears away.

"Where's Dane?"

"Work," she answered flatly. "You know we used to have good times. You used to always be over. I feel like I don't ever see you anymore."

"I…they put me to work…plus Dane practically lives there."

"Who cares if Dane lives there? My house is your house Lan," she looked at him accusingly and he looked away so she wouldn't see the ugliness of his anger towards the other man. "It's always been your house, stupid." They were silent again as she worked down his arm. The line of pain left in the wake of her neat stitching was nothing compared with the agony of her soft fingers moving steadily along either side of it. "What changed?" she asked after a long time.

_Me. I grew up,_ he thought miserably. "I dunno…" was his lame answer. She tied the stitches off with an abrupt jerk and nipped the end of the string free.

"I will tear these stitches right back out with pliers if you don't 'fess up! What's eating you?" she threatened with the needle as he took his arm to examine her handy work. She'd done a magnificent job.

"Don't worry about it. I'm a moody teen," he grinned back, knowing the truth would damage them forever. She leaned towards him for a heart stopping moment and her hands found his sensitive sides. With a tug his shirt was up and over his head as his temperature surged. He stood up abruptly.

"Turn around," she instructed as he tried to forget the glimpse of her lacy pink bra beneath the v-neck of her trim-cut green dress.

"Don't worry about it," he insisted.

"I said turn around Landon. I want to clean that blood off and take a look at the damages on your head."

"My head's no more salvageable than it ever was," he insisted, needing to get outside before he tore himself apart.

"Why are you so squirrelly? What is going on?" she demanded stepping closer to him.

"Really Cassie! I'm fine!" he half shouted, panicked as she kept closing the distance no matter how quickly he backed up.

"Obviously _not_!" she snorted. He turned and bolted to the door, closing his wounded hand over the knob. Her pink-painted nails on their smooth fingers slammed into the door forbidding he escape. She was right there beside him, her blue eyes boring holes into the side of his head. "You don't open that door until this is settled, Landon Reno," she said in a guttural threat that made his stomach drop out. She was going to hate him and he knew it. She moved to touch him.

"If you touch me right now," he said very softly as he closed his eyes. "I will have to kiss you, Cas." The air was very still as they stood absolutely still. One breath, two breaths, three breaths…Reno felt the air flow in and out and wondered what he should do. Cassie answered that for him. A cool cloth touched down between his shoulders. He stood frozen as she worked the blood off of its sticky trail. When she reached the back of his neck he turned to face her.

It was half a step between them. She was in heels so she was just a little bit taller than he was. He could smell the lilac shampoo on her coupled with the chill and a morning's smoke. His turbulent insides calmed to a nervous quiver as he leaned forward and gave her a little kiss on her glossy smooth lips.

"You've never kissed anyone before, have you?" she asked as he hovered less than a breath away. He pressed his lips together and shook his head slightly, swallowed by her blue stare. She stepped out of her heels and went to the door. Reno's heart sunk down to settle in his bowels until he heard the click of the lock. He whirled around in shock and let her push him backwards. "I guess I shoulda figured it out a while ago Lan," she smiled at him as the dilapidated old couch Sasuke kept there specifically for Reno to crash on hit the back of his knees. "Shoulda seen it when Dane moved in and you got sulky…how old are you now?"

"Fifteen…sixteen next week…" he whispered as she had him sit back.

"Do you know how old I am?"

"Twenty three…"

"What kinda sixteen-year-old likes an old bag like me?" she demanded as her hand pushed down on his thundering heart. He swallowed hard as she leaned towards him. "And what kinda sick old lady…wouldn't mind a kid like you?"


	11. Fork in the Road

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

**A/N:** Didn't like the ending to this chapter, reworked it.

Chapter 11: Fork in the Road

"Not so fast punk!" Lola caught Reno by the scruff of his sweatshirt. He was jerked backwards and turned in a famously smooth move she had perfected after years chasing workhouse riff raff. "Where do you think you're dippin' out to today?" she demanded. Reno frowned faintly as he tried to figure out what he'd missed. Obviously he must have forgotten something but for the life of him he couldn't imagine what. He was always working - Sasuke didn't do days off.

"The same place you always send me Lolly Pops," he snorted.

"And they say old people have a hard time rememberin' things," Lola rolled her steel black eyes as she released him. "Come with me boy."

"I ain't brought you no trouble you old crone," Reno objected fiercely. She cuffed him sharply and her talon-like fingers took hold of his shoulder before dragging him along. He stumbled after her with loud complaints through the crowded yards. Still after all these years she was made of iron as she threw him into the chair in her office. The door shut behind them and she banged around in the drawers searching for something.

"Damn things," she grumbled. Reno spotted her cigar box on the open desk and saw her groping about. He squinted at her and realized her almost black eyes looked filmy. Stories of Lola missing more of what the children about did and relying more heavily on her prefects came back to him.

"Old woman," Reno growled at her as he lifted a cigar and cut the tip for her. He lit it himself, taking a few puffs of her Junon brand cigars with their rich tobacco leaf, and handed it over. Lola's brow wrinkled further in frustration as he traced the million other wrinkles he'd never stopped to notice before. She'd lost weight too.

"Thank you boy," she rumbled as she took some soothing puffs and looked towards the slats of artificial light striping her office from the grimy little window. Lola seemed to gather her thoughts about her as he marveled at how frail she suddenly appeared to him. "Find your file," she instructed of him. Reno stood up and sauntered to the cabinets, pulling the drawers open until he found "Landon Reno" scrawled across one manila tab. He pulled it out and it fell open. He saw the flash of Jay's gray eyes and his wild Mohawk and crooked grin looking back at him. His heart constricted painfully in his chest as he touched a face he hadn't seen in years.

Behind the photo were a handful of rubber banded items. When Reno could tear his eyes away from Jay he turned the photo over and saw an official ID gleaming new with a photo taken a couple months ago. He realized suddenly that he was sixteen today.

Reno sat down and sifted through the things rubber banded to the ID. There was a checkbook with his name printed across the top and an opening balance of five thousand dollars. A gift card worth one hundred dollars to the local shopping mart was wedged in with a debit card and a key fob with a dangling apartment key labeled 437. Beyond these items were his rather extensive records of misdemeanors, shoplifting, and a few scraps about his family line - whatever could be salvaged after they'd simply disappeared and most of their files wiped clean.

"They say you kids are grown at sixteen," Lola said. He looked up at the weary note in her voice. "Was married at your age myself." Reno tried to imagine what sort of man would have an ugly old crow like her. "That was back before the plates and Shin-Ra. This was farm country once. My old man grew wheat and rye in this here lot. 'Course now the earth is cold and dead. Won't be nothin' growin around Midgar for a long, long time."

Lola turned away from her window and went to a locked cabinet in which she kept her chocolate stash. Inside was a bottle of bourbon which she collected with a couple tumblers and set down on her scarred desk. Smoke puffed like the smoke billowing from an old construction machine as Lola lowered herself into her chair with a clenching of her teeth. Her hellcat tattoo stood out, still ferocious beneath the faded wear of time.

Since his encounter with Cassie Reno had been nothing but ecstatic. He was spry and light on his feet and for the first time Midgar seemed beautiful to him. There had only been one tense moment when he'd bumped into Cassie and Dane out together but the blond had waylaid his nerves with a subtle, twinkling smile when Dane turned his back to look at something. It had felt like he'd never be grounded again.

Seeing Lola so old suddenly anchored him once more. He felt the cold earth beneath the soles of his feet and sensed the looming future outside of Lola's care. It wasn't that he couldn't take care of himself - he'd been doing that for years. Something unsettled him to realize the iron matriarch of his makeshift home was no more the unstoppable force of nature she once had been.

"The state says your a man now Landon Reno. Congratulations," Lola offered him a glass of brandy. He took it and the glass made a soft clinking noise as they toasted. He sipped the burning liquid and let it roll down his throat before settling like the core of a boiler in his stomach. "This place ain't much but hopefully it gave you a chance to take a look at things 'round you."

"Why'd you join the army?" Reno asked suddenly as she savored a pull on her cigar. Her gray eyebrows lifted as she considered the question.

"Husband got killed. All I knew was farming and pa'd lost the farm. Smooth talkin' Turk had a sturdy girl like me signed up for a new Shin-Ra program for women before I knew he'd undone my blouse," Lola shrugged with a smile. "They'll get you too boy, if you don't keep your wits about you." Reno touched the goggles still hanging around his neck.

"You said one time about Cassie..." Reno probed, thinking this was the last time he'd ever see the old goat. The ember of her cigar flared red with a contemplative drag.

"You ain't asked her?"

"She doesn't talk about bein' a kid."

"She came from upstairs," Lola pointed. "Her ma ran off with a soldier from the slums and dragged her along away from her dad. They caught bullets from men that owed his soul to but she got away to live on the streets. Most kids these days either become savages or walking dead. Cassie boy, she just fought tooth and nail, worked like a dog to keep from the whore houses. I ain't ever seen a dame with as much spirit as she's got in one curl."

"Cassie's from the plates?"

"Can't you see? She's alien, somethin' soft and sweet compared to us from down here."

"I'm gonna take her back up," Reno swore impulsively.

"You always did have a thing for her...an' she had a soft spot for you too." Lola chuckled. A hot blush swam through his cheeks as he thought of Sasuke's couch. "Well boy, you're clutterin' up my office. You got your dues now get the hell out and don't come back."

"Sure thing Lola-pop," Reno swung back up and took everything but his records. "Hey boot-face,"

"You're about to get a boot up the ass," she threatened like an old dog baring her yellow teeth.

"To you," he knocked his glass against hers and downed his. As he breezed out the door he heard Lola laugh. Glancing back at her he saw a hundred thousand wrinkles wreathing her expression and thought that if she'd always laughed so fully it was no wonder she was snapped up at sixteen.

All the way to Sasuke's his mind was filled with thoughts of Lola and the light touch of sorrow that he wouldn't see her again. She was the past now. His mind quickly shifted gears when he brushed his convalescing stitches. Lola faded out like a bleached picture and was replaced with the vibrant recollections of Cassie.

It was hard for him to focus on anything else before he woke up again and found himself halfway through welding a temperamental boiler back together. The primordial beast had him pinned behind it as he patched up its moldering body. He could hardly contain himself as he finished the project before stoking the thing back up and looking for a telephone.

"Finished?" the shop clerk asked, shivering against the cold of impending winter.

"Should be okay now. Got the fire going for you again too," he nodded.

"A million thanks. Here's for the bill," he handed over the three hundred dollars that Reno counted and tucked away in a back pocket.

"Mind if I use the phone?" Reno nodded over at the black receiver hanging behind the counter.

"Certainly," the clerk nodded. "I'm going to warm up a minute. Give me a shout if anyone comes in while I'm gone." For a balding, middle aged man with a pot belly he darted as agilely down those stairs as any dancer. Reno smiled crooked and picked up the phone. His eyes made a pass around the vacant pawn shop before he dialed Cassie's number.

"Hello?" Cassie asked after a handful of anxiety filled rings. The fan was running in the background and he could picture her standing over her stove cooking a thin soup to ward off winter colds. He wondered what it would be like to have her standing in _his _kitchen cooking some morning after she'd stayed the night.

"Cas," Reno smiled.

"Landon!" she chimed and a rush of warmth shot through him. "Happy birthday! You're all grown up!"

"In more ways than one," he laughed and heard a subtle current of wicked delight in his own tone. Cassie picked up on it too.

"Oh? And in what ways might that be?" she teased him.

"So, when we slums children get booted out, we're given our own little cubby hole tenements," Reno explained to her as if she wasn't already familiar with the procedure.

"Do you now?"

"Yeah. I haven't even seen the thing yet. So I was wondering..." Reno felt himself blush as he couldn't help but think how he probably wouldn't even notice the apartment at all if she came over.

"I'll pack all your favorite treats and pick you up from work," she replied without missing a beat. A stupid grin spread over his face as even his ears burned with glowing delight. "Lan? Are you still there?"

"Yeah, sorry," he said roughly. "Just happy."

"Oh Lan! I'm going to go shopping for a few things! I'm so excited! I'll let you go for now because I've got so much to do by the time I come to get you, alright? Happy birthday Lan! Love you!" She blew a kiss through the phone and hung up. Oddly he could still hear the patter of her feet and they were getting closer. The phone shifted suddenly and finally went dead. He hung up too as that euphoria filled him again. When the clerk returned he drifted from the shop and found his way dreaming through heaps of appliance repair with Sasuke.

"What? You overtime today?" Sasuke demanded suddenly and Reno realized it was dark outside. He snapped back into his body and looked up from the toaster he presently had in a headlock as he argued with a spring replacement.

"What time is it?" Reno demanded.

"Nearly thirty after. You done at four," Sasuke replied from where he adjusted the rotator on a fan. Ever punctual Cassie should have already been here. Reno set down the toaster as alarm bells rang in his head. He scrambled to his feet and was heading out of the garage when he noticed Rude sitting on the backseat of an old van, waiting patiently for him.

"What?" the other boy asked, immediately reading his comrade's evident distress.

"Cas, she said she'd meet me thirty minutes ago," he replied. Rude needed no further information. He was on his feet and the pair of them were running - then sprinting - down the streets towards the tin monster that was Cassie's house.

Flashing blue lights blazed up ahead as they came closer. He could see it from three blocks away and Reno needed no further prompting. Everything but Cassie dropped out of his mind as he seemed to dissolve into a gale force. His rapid approach and pounding steps alerted the nearest officers as he wheeled around a corner down her street. They turned and waved at him. When he didn't stop they scrambled backwards from his unstoppable approach and floundered at their holsters for a gun. Vaulting over the nearest car he tried to slow down as he skid through the doorway of her franken-hut and pounded against the kitchen counter.

Every head in the room turned towards him as he went flying over the yellowed countertops and plummeted onto the warped linoleum below. His bracing hands slipped out from under him and he was knocked breathless. He tried to orient himself as he struggled up and his hands touched the slick thing that had further hampered his landing capabilities.

Not a word was spoken as he looked at the pulverized thing laying in the middle of her kitchen. He squinted at it in confusion of all the red, orange, and pink. It wasn't until he put his hand down on sticky red tresses that he realized it was her - or whatever was left.

He didn't blink, didn't look away as he studied the frigid, abused remains. She was broken. Not just as in murdered, but in the sense that he couldn't tell the back of her head from the front. Her limbs were twisted and ribs had torn through her blouse.

She wasn't so much a body as a bean bag when he lifted her up and cradled her against his chest. He shifted so he could sit on his bottom and lean his cheek against the top of her indiscernible head.

"Landon," a man said softly as his shoes squelched on Cassie's blood. Reno looked up into Detective Quincy Drake's gray eyes. They were soft with compassion. "I'm sorry Landon."

Reno didn't speak. He instead searched the room and saw Dane sitting with his head in his hands. Between his oil-stained fingers Reno could see the other man's black eyes glittering at him, watching the scene.

"Dane came home and found her this way."

_No he didn't,_ Reno realized as ice rolled through his veins. _He was on the other line..._

"Musta been some angry sonuvabitch," Reno mustered his strength to say. It came out a broken whisper as he tightened his grip on her. There was a wet squish as her cold blood oozed through his sweater to chill his skin.

"Did Cassie have any enemies Landon?" Drake asked gently.

"They shouldn't have been her enemies," Reno smiled faintly and lowered his eyes again.

"Well this looks like a right mess."

Reno couldn't mistake the voice or the presence that entered the room. He lifted his eyes again and saw Lyn standing in the doorway with her mocha skin and amber gaze. She was smiling until she spotted him, a casual business-as-usual grin. When their eyes met he watched as the devil manifested in her. He could already feel his soul being pried from him.

"Drake, this is Shin-Ra business."

"Slums homicides are hardly Shin-Ra concern. It only matters if your merchandise was involved."

"Cassie Providence was Shin-Ra property," Lyn replied. "By blood," she took a page from another Turk behind her, a man with a long blonde braid and auburn eyes. Drake snatched the page and his eyes widened. Reno absorbed her words with mute shock but Dane's head lifted and fear touched his formerly hateful face. "This investigation belongs to the Turks now boys. 'Bye-'bye."

Drake was pale faced as he stood up and looked down on Cassie. Mutely he turned away and strode out of the room as his uniformed police unit followed. Dane stood up too.

"Siddown," Lyn barked. Another Turk, smooth faced with dark slick hair, went and pinned Dane to his seat. Lyn crossed the room to Reno and leaned down. She took his bloody face in both hands and kissed his forehead. "What do you know?" she whispered with her lips against his ear. Reno said nothing as his eyes bored accusingly into Dane.

"You think I did it you little shit?" Dane asked as his face went yet paler. Reno's expression never changed. "Why the fuck would I kill my own girl?" He tightened his hold on Cassie and tried not to reconcile the unresponsive corpse with the warm bodied woman he knew from just hours ago.

"We played back the phone tapes," Lyn whispered in his ear as his skin prickled. "Neighbors saw him leave a half hour after your call, Cherry Cheese Cake never did." Reno knew. He knew long before Lyn showed up. In the back of his mind he knew the instant he realized she was so late. "Become a Turk, and he's all yours," Lyn kissed his throat as he swallowed hard. Her rough fingers grated against the back of his neck as he tried to keep himself from imagining the soft brush of Cassie's tulip kisses.

"Fill out the paperwork for me," Reno gently set Cassie down on her linoleum floor. He got to his feet, saturated in her gory demise, and crossed the room towards Dane. A cop had left his nightstick there on the coffee table and Reno picked it up. Dane's eyes narrowed as the smooth Turk holding him at bay stepped back from the impending confrontation.

* * *

Rude waited outside. He'd been strong armed away as Lyn breezed through the door confidently. It was half an hour before that door opened back up and Lyn's two cronies carried a body bag gently out of what Rude had always considered to be a cheerful, warm home. He knew it was Cassie's body by the careful way they maneuvered it. Lyn came next with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. Behind her came Reno with his face turned down.

Shouldering through the neighbors and agitated cops reduced to crowd control he approached his bloody friend. Reno came with the serenity of a horror film's vengeful ghost. He moved fluidly but there was something disconcerting about his pleasant smile when Lyn turned and said something to him. She pressed a card into his palm and he shrugged, still grinning.

At length Rude reached his friend and stood silently beside him. Not a terribly talkative individual to begin with Rude usually found Reno needed little prompting for a conversation. This time however Rude wasn't quiet because of his nature, he simply had no idea how to console the loss. The dead look in Reno's eyes and the blankness of his smile was more terrible than Cassie's grisly end. Dane may as well have killed them both for whatever was left of the red head.

"I've joined the Turks," Reno said as the blue coated cronies moved agilely past them back towards the house. Rude didn't have to guess what bargain had been made. "Don't worry. Once I make it up top I'll set something up for you - something honest."

The glue holding Reno together was about to break apart. Rude could feel it stress. He put a hand on Reno's shoulder. The red head's green eyes flicked up to his.

"I loved her so much," Reno smiled a tired, mournful smile. "Why couldn't he take me instead?" Rude's fingers tightened around Reno's shoulder.

"Time to go boy," Lyn instructed as she pulled the broken red head away. Rude opened his mouth to say he'd go too when Reno's fist jabbed into his stomach. His smile strengthened, became more like the grin Rude recognized from the night Newt was killed all those years ago. It was as ghastly as the macabre moon that had watched over that terrible night on the plates.

"You're a good man Rude," Reno called as he was half dragged towards a sleek black car. "Don't sell the Devil your soul too!"

"Reno..."

"I'm the brains of this outfit!" Reno howled as Lyn stuffed him into the car and slid in after him.

"Sure you won't come?" Lyn asked as her wicked grin arched across her face. All the fires and temptations of Hell were there, shimmering like a mirage in her eyes. Reno leaned forward and made a swiping motion under his throat, desperately trying to protect the only other thing in the world he had left. Rude folded his hands behind him and took a step back as he lowered his chin in mourning. The car door closed and a purring engine came to life. He looked up as it passed down the filthy street. Through the dark back windshield he could see Reno's mako-green eyes watching him.

When the car had vanished and he stood terribly alone outside Cassie's house Rude replaced his sunglasses. He looked around the carnage and realized he was little more than a ghost standing over the grave of his recent murder. Cassie was dead. Through her Reno had been murdered and the vestiges of his soul robbed. Surely Cassie was in Heaven, Reno was on his way to Hell, and now Rude was left by himself in Purgatory.

He should have knocked Reno out and just gotten into the car with Lyn too. Well, the decision was made for now. He would give it some time to see if Reno needed rescuing or companionship and then make his move. Turning away from the carnage he began making his way home.


	12. Wutai

**Disclaimer**: I do not own FFVII, the characters, original storyline, etc.

**A/N:** This one is for Joe. Sorry if I'm rusty.

Chapter 12: Wutai

Two weeks on the heaving decks of a rusted tub that clattered from one monster wave to the next in some display of bouyancy in defiance of the laws of physics had left most of the young recruits miserably sick. The roiling skies were black and cracked with thunder like gunshots as lightning flashed like strobe lights in a club. Apart from the rage of the clouds the frothing ocean with its boiling waves was a shade of green Reno had never seen before.

While his fellows spent most of their time hurling or collapsed with sallow faces in corners of their great metal hold Reno had ventured up onto the decks with the tattooed and wiry sailors. He rode the heaving deck like a bucking broncoe and watched the battering waves as they crested with churning white foam, agog with the sheer might of nature. The dead space in his chest was somehow soothed by his insignifcance and he quickly found solace when a sailor had spotted him and put him to work helping with the ship.

Now in the middle of the night the sea smoothed for the first time since their sunny departure from a little bay just north of a town called Kalm. He was down to his last smoke, most of them drenched by the incessant rain and several others bummed from him by neurotic youths terrified of the world outside the slums. So now on the calm deck he took the chance to finish his Sol Sunburst in peace and had taken a match from another sailor who was thinking likewise and puffing away at a pipe.

His cigarette and the bowl of the older sailor's pipe were the only lights aside from the little shanty rusted over the helm. Beyond them Reno could hear the water but could see nothing of its inky surface, nor could he pick out the hazy line of the horizon beneath so much cloud cover. Thick smoke filled his mouth and he blew out thoughtful smoke rings as he hunted for the shoreline they must surely be coming upon. Wutai, land of exotic women like painted dolls and some of the fiercest warlords ever encountered. It was out there somewhere in the dark embroiled in turmoil and it would soon be his job to help Lyn and the other Turks end the war.

About five years ago the Shin-Ra had begun increasing its presence around the world, including in Wutai. Rude's brother had been amongst the first wave to go and set up a base in one of the southern islands and his unit was one of the first responders when Wutai had reacted hostiley to the idea of a Mako Reactor being constructed within their borders. The war had officially started two years ago when members of Wutai's elite Ninja guard had attacked workers constructing the Mako Reactor and destroyed the facility. Since then a tarnished set of dog tags had been returned to Rude's father and countless other young men had been drafted.

Reno had always been too young to be drafted and Rude had been looked over since two other brothers had immediately signed up to replace their fallen elder. Not in his wildest dreams had Reno imagined taking a two week voyage to join the war effort in the service of the Turks. He was still too young to be considered an official Turk but Lyn had easily bypassed that issue when she presented his credentials and proved he had undergone the genetic therapy marking him as a SOLDIER prototype.

Suddenly against the blackness a shaft of silver light touched black water and made it shimmer. Reno's eyes were drawn heavenword as he saw a ghastly moon shaking off the veil of mist. Rather than a scimitar it was a half circle, shadowed with craters and less sinister than he remembered. He took an appreciative puff on his cigar and wondered if this was why Cassie would always reflexively look up and out of her windows at night. He wondered if she was one of those little girls up on top of the Plates that used to wish upon stars and peek at the surface of the moon through a telescope – whatever that was.

"Land," the pipe smoking sailor by the name of Shane said over to his right. Reno broke away from his wounding thoughts and suddenly saw the shoreline glimmering with lights. They sloped up as if the coast were at the feet of mountains, twinkling red, yellow and white like the spattering of sparks from a disrupted fire.

Reno had never seen anything quite so beautiful. There was a strange love of the sea in him but the prospect of solid ground made seemed to drop great shackles of weariness from him. Soon he would meet with the Lyn to begin fulfilling the tenants of his contract with the devil. It really didn't matter so much to him anymore. He would do as she asked and if he was lucky he might live long enough to pull Rude out from the slums and set him up with a better life. What else was left?

"Land ho!" the call went up suddenly.

"Land ho!" It was repeated a second time and then passed along into the lower decks of the ship. Reno listened to the rumble of thunder below and realized it was the sound of feet pounding up the metal stairs of the hold. Young men burst out into the night shouting overtop of each other. They came forward like one of the monster waves they'd been battling and crashed against the railing, crowding to see solid ground.

Choruses of cheers and excited whoops went up into the air. Reno remained silent and smoking amidst their celebration. He just watched their approached, the lights beginning to focus into red lanterns and wooden buildings with strange ships wooden ships pulled into the harbors bearing ribbed sails. Strange pictures were painted on the sails, a collection of oddly angled and crossing lines while the nearby buildings were all marked with different symbols.

Extracting himself as the smell of foreign spices and cooked meats scented the air he joined Shane in helping the crew prepare to dock. He didn't know exactly how it would go but he followed Shane's lead and offered the extra hand the crew had so sorely missed and was grateful he'd been there to provide. When their work was done and they were properly moored he sat back with them as a gangplank was lowered and an armed unit of Fenrirs came stomping onto deck.

The wild men on deck were quickly subdued by the sight of grim faced soldiers barely their elders with the obvious wear of battle scarring their armor and patching their skin, the pragmatic familiarity of weaponry in their hands. As they stood at attention an older man with eyes as sharp as Lola's came striding onto the deck and seemingly stripped each one with a quick visual appraisal. The youths jostled and jumbled into their practiced formation, all only half prepared for an impromptu inspection after their horrendous sea voyage.

"All of you back below quarters!" the man bellowed. "You'll spend the night preparing your gear and then _if_ you pass inspection tomorrow morning at 0400 I'll consider letting you put your feet on sweet ground! Move it!"

There were hisses of supressed despair before they turned and began rapidly filing back below into the squallid cargo bay. The commanding officer shifted a wad of spit tucked in his lower lip from one side to the other as his stern, craggy face watched their progress.

"I see they weren't to your liking," Lyn said as she ambled up the gang plank with a Junon Jezebel hanging from the corner of her mouth. Her blue Turks jacket was open and the top two buttons of her white shirt were undone as her tie hung like a necklace. A sheen of sweat gleamed on her brow and at the hollow of her neck from the firelight illuminating the port.

"Greener and greener every time," the officer growled. "May as well just ship me a bunch of pregnant women so we can hand their infants an assault rifle the moment they're born."

"I'll pass that along," Lyn mused and her gold eyes flashed like a predator's as she scanned the deck.

"Where's your boy? I hear he's young," the officer prompted as he spit on the deck. Reno got to his feet. Everything he owned he had on him so there was no need to return to the cargo bay.

"He's more a vetran than most of your boys here," Lyn smiled as she watched Reno approach.

"Wiry little thing," the officer eyed him up and down and Reno gave him a crooked grin.

"Slippery and sneaky to boot," he offered.

"A born Turk eh? Just keep him out from under my feet Lyn or you'll have to pick him out of my boot treads."

"In about three weeks you'll be begging me to lend him to you Felton," Lyn chuckled as she flicked her cigarette over the edge of the boat into the black water below. "Welcome to Hell Reno. I've been so eager for your arrival. I've got your first assignment all lined up."

"Sure thing toots."

Lyn clapped a hand on his shoulder and pushed him towards the gangplank. He marched down ahead of her and amanged to raise his hand in a parting wave to the sailors. Shane nodded to him as a few others returned the fairwell.

There were no roads to speak of and Reno was suddenly up to his ankles in churned mud. He and Lyn slogged towards a mud coated jeep. Seated on it were two other Turks, a man about Lyn's age with old scars srtiping down the left side of his face and a younger man in his twenties with inky dark hair slicked back and brushing his shoulders. The pair of them surveyed Reno and shared a look.

"This is the boy then?" the older man asked.

"The apple of my eye," Lyn nodded once. "Reno, this is our fearless leader Verdot and his protege Tseng. Mind yourself and shine for him or old Verdot'll snuff you out no matter how sweet I am on you."

"Sure thing boss," Reno shrugged. Verdot glanced again at Lyn as if second guessing her selection and then reached across Tseng to the glove box. It popped open and he extracted a manilla folder which he passed to Lyn.

"This man is Nakamura Kensuke," Verdot explained as Lyn opened the folder and showed it to Reno. As he studied the Wutain face with its oval eyes and smooth features he managed to come up with a sucker and unwrapped it. "He belongs to one of the mafia families known as Yakuza that have been amenable to business with Shin-Ra Electric," Verdot continued as Reno set the sucker in his mouth and proceeded to meditatively twist the stick back and forth. The older man's eyes narrowed and Reno raised his eyebrows.

"I go it. Yakuza equals mafia yo. Followin'," Reno assured him. Verdot seemed to withold a reprimand.

"We hold the city up to the river but beyond are Emperor Kisaragi Godo's troops. This disc needs to find its way into Nakamura Kensuke's hands on the far side of the river. The Nakamura Family compound is located along the western most edge of the city here." Verdot leaned over the seat and tapped a red X on the aereal photograph of the city. Reno's Mako eyes cast the faintest green illumination onto the page as his attention flicked between the X and his present location somewhere along the eastern port.

"You will either be killed or succeed and in the unlikely event you fail and survive do not return," Verdot informed him curtly as Reno examined the map more closely and glanced a second time at the photo.

"It's your precious intel to gamble," Reno shrugged as he accepted the disk and slipped it into an inner pocket of his jacket that had once contained his pack of Sol Sunbursts.

"He'll work his magic," Lyn promised to Verdot's less than pleased expression.

"Once I deliver the intel?" Reno prompted as he looked up from the map.

"His returning you safely is proof of an accord beween us," Verdot replied simply. Reno shook his head and looked up at Lyn.

"If you're involved my ass is on the line," he accused her with his lopsided grin. "So do I get a weapon or am I supposed to come up with that on my own too?"

"Oh I wouldn't let you go without your credentials Red," Lyn assured him as she pulled up a brief case Reno felt could probably withstand a reactor explosion. Inside was a gleaming black night stick. Reno's fists clenched against the urge to take it and beat her to death for her poor choice. The blunt instrument made him think of pulverized corpses and awakened the beastly despair the sea had somehow soothed.

Extracting it Lyn flicked a switch and it seemed to hum. She touched it to his shoulder as if to knight him. Before he knew what had happened he was in the mud with pain burning through his shoulder. Disoriented he looked up into Lyn's smug wolf face.

"This one has a taser," she informed him.


	13. The Yatsuba Family

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 13: The Yatsuba Family

Reno tried to figure out where he might be now. Looking at a map of the city had been all well and good but actually navigating the distances was a totally different ball game. He glanced at his 'borrowed' compass again and then peeked out of his alley. Slums kid he might be but creeping through an unfamiliar city in the middle of a war had even his street smarts groping for knowledge.

There was some commotion in the street that made him slink back into the shadows and look away lest the glow of his eyes give away his position. Feet were churning the muddy road as a woman's voice railed against the lower timbres of men. He heard her grunt as she splashed into the ground against the backdrop of metal hissing free of sheathes. She let of a barrage of fast words and spit at them.

Reno ventured a look and spotted her in an ornate pink robe filled with cranes, most of it muddied and pulled off her shoulders to expose a mostly transparent under wrapping. Her hair was in matted disaray and blood slipped down along her temple, a few other cuts red and raw against her pearly skin. She twisted as she stood and through her translucent under robe he spotted a great tattoo of a red faced demon in elaborate garb with wild hair. Strewn about his feet were skulls.

As if the tattoo was really a manifestation of her soul a blue-white knife about as long as her forearm flickered free from her waist and the tattooed woman attacked one of her Wutain assailants. Reno watched the light dance off their blades and spark as they moved faster than anyone he'd ever seen before. Their attacks were as precise as surgeons and more savage than the starving, mangy dogs arguing over trash bins in the slums.

She felled one of her assailants, a Wutain man with a strange knot twisted atop a bald spot on top of his head, by slicing through his neck. Without even pausing to admire her handywork she carried the momentum through and plunged her knife into another man's chest. She was in the middle of taking the much longer sword from her latest kill when a thrid came sailing through the air at her. Before she could react and without really understanding what he was doing Reno had struck the wouldd be killer with all the strength in his body. The taser in his night stick immobilized the man and he thumped uselessly to the ground. Reno snaped the night stick down and cracked it against the man's skull with a wet 'thok' and he didn't get up again.

A sword whistled over his head and a spray of warm blood caught the back of Reno's neck. The woman wrenched the blade back with a tickle of wind near his ear and set the tip at his throat. Heart pounding Reno stood staring up at her face, enraptured by the savage black stare that sought to understand his motive. Flicking off the taser on his night stick Reno dropped it and lifted his hands in a sign of surrender.

Her alien words felt fast and harsh towards him but he only shook his head apologetically to say he didn't understand. He was still trying to piece together his reflexive urge to help her. Maybe because he'd never seen anyone move like her before coupled with the trained instinct to protect women. Whatever it was he hoped it wouldn't be costing him his life now. Besides, these were Wutain men had been after her life. Maybe she would free him in return?

Spinning him around she pulled a throng from her hair and quickly bound his hands in knots that made the cord bite into his wrists. He bit his lip to keep from complaining loudly and internally cursed himself. She rearranged her robes to cover herself as best they could before urging him forward at sword point. He thought he saw her take his night stick too but the prodding of her sword kept him moving.

They moved quickly down the streets and the woman kept glancing around like she was convinced they were being followed. Reno followed the guiding point of her blade until she shoved him down a dark alley and then pressed him down onto his knees so she could slip the blade up under his chin so he was obediently pinned. She rapped on a door with her knuckles softly. A soft voice said something to which she replied. The door slid open sideways and she sheathed her sword before pushing him roughly in ahead of her.

Once inside he was handed to a pair of men in similar robes with top knots on their heads. The woman passed them and vanished around a dimly lit corridor silently. Reno in the mean time was stripped of all his clothing save for his boxers and pushed mostly naked down the hallway.

"Not even a drink," Reno complained as he shuffled along bound and nearly naked. "If this is gonna be my life I better get a helluva paycheck." One of the guards behind him cuffed him sharply.

They passed by sliding doors latticed with a thin white paper revealing shadows of numerous occupants. They seemed to be playing dice and Reno could smell a strange smoke he didn't recognize. The shadows inside reclined on low couches or lay across the laps of women with slender ornaments framing their heads. Reno watched the shadow play as he was led deeper and deeper into the compound until at last he was brought into a small room veiled in eddies of that sickly sweet smoke. Inside sat several older men, all of them rotund but their bared arms and chests displayed muscle despite their roundness. Their backs and shoulders were colored in an array of tattoos ranging from dragons to colorful fish to demons of various sorts. They all looked up from the dice game they were playing when one of the guards said something in their rapid fire language.

One of the men handed his pipe to a girl in a very short robe that Reno couldn't help but stare at. The man leaned his elbows on the table and studied Reno with his black eyes, the candlelight catching and hinting that maybe they were really just a dark brown. He nodded once and Reno was released, his bonds cut, and forced to sit on his knees wedged between two very large men. His eyes flashed around the room and saw each man possessed two swords, a short one like the one the woman had carried and a long one like the one she'd taken from her second victim.

Reno noticed a slashed scar under the man's left eye as his thick lips pressed together in consideration. He said something in a deep voice that seemed to rumble like an old engine in Sasuke's shop. Reno listened to the rhythmic and surprisingly slow fall of his words.

"Well, I only know two of your words and you didn't use either of them yo. I have no idea what ya just said," Reno shook his head when he realized he was supposed to be answering. The men stirred and looked around but the wide face of his questsioner remained impassive. It seemed slow and sleepy but for the sharp eyes. Reno held the gaze for a moment before he tried his most winning smile and shrugged, wondering which direction the decapitation would come from and if he was fast enough to survivably duck it.

The older man said something to the guards and Reno was hoisted up by his arm pits. Everyone in the room was suddenly moving as Reno was herded through the hallways. The muggy night air was a slap in the face as he made his way into a courtyard beneath the sinking half moon. Stars winked down at him and he stumbled to a halt in the middle of it. Colorfully clad women like exotic birds with their robes half opent o reveal their creamy skin were draped along the veranda as their tattooed men sat like so many hyenas gathered around a wounded antelope. Many of them were strapping young men with whipchord muscles and their long swords set across their knees.

"My sister informs me you aided her in escaping from Imperial soldiers," a man said with perfect pronunciation. He was broad shouldered and older by a few years. "So rather than kill you immediately stranger we will give you the chance to prove your strength. Your oponent will be Hokuto," he indicated a bear of a man that stepped forward. Reno looked up at him and felt his stomach drop out.

"You Woots like to play fair I see," Reno grinned to keep from stepping backwards in his fear. The hulking man came to stand about two paces away and lowered his head in a bow. Reno delayed a few seconds to see if he would strike and then lowered his head. The whole time he kept his eyes on his opponent and tried to determine how in the world he was supposed to fell a mountain. He'd fought bigger opponents plenty of times but never anyone _this_ big.

Their match opened with a blow to his ribs that made Reno crumple. He dry heaved while the Mountain watched and waited. With a shudder Reno managed to heft himself back to his feet. Wiping bile away from his chin he pulled his fists up. The man had inhuman speed. He really was a bear.

This time Reno saw him dart forward and managed to avoid a second blow aimed more directly at his gut. Despite the stabbing pain in his ribs he danced left and right, weaving between fists and feeling blows graze him. He came to edge of the arena and ate a strike that made fireworks explode in his blackened vision. Thumping against the ground he blindly scrabbled back up and danced away so he might have a second to regain his sight.

When the stars faded back into the courtyard filled with a sea of black eyed onlookers Reno spotted his bear sized opponent again waiting patiently for him to recover. This was a strange test any way he might think to categorize it.

"Time to do or die yo," he muttered to himself and pushed forward into the offensive. The big man was expecting a full onslaught and so was surprised when Reno pulled on his long ago lot baseball days and performed a perfect homerun slide right through his legs. Once there he put his foot in the back of the man's knee, bringing him down in a sudden collapse. Springing onto his back Reno landed a quick blow to the man's ear and felt him shudder. Quick as a tiger the man had wrenched him loose and hurled him across the courtyard as the enraptured audience watched in silence.

Like a cat Reno landed on his feet and sprag forward again. The bear braced and this time was better prepared for Reno's sudden change of tactic. The red head barely managed to escape a snaring hand that anticipated the quick jerk to the left. Slipping by the hand he caught it by the wrist and Reno brought his knee to bear in the the Bear's ribs. Breath whooshed out of the man as his elbow came back and connected in the middle of Reno's chest. The muscles tightened as he crashed backwards.

The man landed another sickening blow in his middle that made Reno wheeze. His whole world was filled up with this beast looming over his head. Summoning the last vestiges of his strength before he was entrapped he landed his feet in the bear's belly and pushed backwards, grinding pebbles and dirt into his bare back. Drawing his legs beneath himself he scrambled to the left fast enough to get around behind the man and locked his arms in a choke hold.

With bone shattering heaves Reno was thrown into the ground, slammed against posts, and generally battered until he thought he might let go. His hold remained true with the threat of death on the line and after an agonizing two minutes the bear began to stumble, fell to his knees, and then passed out. Reno hung on a few seconds longer just to be sure he wasn't playing dead, then released him and checked to see his chest still rising and falling. He might have killed before but he didn't relish the idea of stacking his body count too high.

Bruised, battered and bleeding Reno stood up and looked directly at the young man who spoke the language of Midgar.

"Now what?"

The scar faced man spoke now and Reno's translator listened. The muscles in his temples stood out but otherwise his face remained impassive. When he was through listening he turned to Reno and lowered his head respectfully.

"The Yatsuba family welcomes and thanks you for aiding my sister Hiromi. My name is Yatsuba Tennouji and I will be your host for the duration of your stay. Please let me know how we can best accommodate you, mr?"

"The name's Reno, and I'd love my stuff, some grub, and directions yo. Thanks for askin' Yahtzee bro."

"Please call me Tennouji, Reno-san."

"You got it Tan-o'-john."

"Follow me," Tennouji informed him as he tried to stifle his irritation. The gathered men and women were twittering about them as they shuffled back inside. Reno glanced back and saw a particularly delicate flower cradling the head of the Bear man. Her skin was too pale and her hair dripped like spider silk. She looked like she might be taken away by the slightest breeze. But when she looked up at him her dark eyes were sharp as steel, hard with resolve and dislike for him. Reno's smile flashed in a deflection of his surprise. He hadn't expected so much venom from such a frail creature.

Tennouji led him back through the Yatsuba complex in a series of long hallways, sliding doors, and airy courtyards until at last Tennouji slid one of the thinly papered, lattice work doors to reveal a spartan room of mats and a single oil lamp. An ornately painted screen detailed with symbols of long legged, s-necked birds unfolded in one corner while the center was occupied by a shimmering black tray on squat legs laden with foods. Beside it sat the woman from the alley, Hiromi Yatsuba.

"My brother says you have defeated Hokuto-san and proven worth to the family," Hiromi addressed him with a thick accent. She was clean and perfectly groomed, her hair all pinned in place by delicate gold sticks and green clips that looked to be made of stone. Her robes were red this time, images of white and black spotted fish roving the scarlet curves and creases. "Allow me thanking you for helping with those earlier men." Her seashell pink nails peeked from beneth her long sleeves as she placed them before her and proceeded to press her forehead to the floor as she remained seated on her knees beside the tray of food.

"Anytime toots," Reno smiled cheerfully as he waved it away. Tennouji looked incsensed as Hiromi tipped her head too one side.

"Toot-su?" she looked to her brother for clarification.

"You will address Hiromi-Oujou as Oujou-sama," he insisted as his hand flew to the hilt of his sword.

"Easy killer. I earned the family's respect if you'll recall. Cuttin' down a guest seems like bad manners to me, but that's just how it goes in the East yo. Maybe you Woots think different," he srugged and really wished his things hand't all been stripped from him.

Hiromi appealed to her brother in Wutain and Tennouji backed down only after he had given him a perfect glare that silently explained the extent to which he would maim Reno should such an egregious breech in ettiquette be repeated. The red head gave him a mock salute before swirling around and walking casually towards Hiromi. Tennouji in the mean time stepped fully into the room and closed the screen behind them so they were the only three present.

"Your things are cleaning right now. There are other clothings behind there," she indicated the screen with the strange birds. "Please dress for your dinner."

Reno padded behind the screen and found a few different jackets folded neatly and then a strangely cut cloth with long tethers to boot. Of the two jackets set out, one a plain white and the other black with the same strange birds festooning it, he selected the white and tried to figure out what was to be done about pants.

Hiromi and Tennouji were both conversing softly, the quick pace of their words falling like the patter of a soft rain. It looked like Tennouji was actually wearing pants but for the life of him Reno couldn't imagien how to fashion pants out of whatever this funny looking cloth was. Since it had ties about it he wound up wrapping it like a kilt about his middle, twining the ties around several times and fashioning a fierce knot.

"Well, how do I look OJ-Sam?" he demanded as he emerged feeling absurd. The conversation was halted mid sentence. Tennouji looked disgusted despite the idiot grin Reno had ostentatiously painted over his face. The back of his neck was getting hot and the tips of his ears were burning.

And then, just as he was really becoming mortified, Hiromi reacted perfectly. Her little fingers covered her mouth, the same little fingers that had savagely killed multiple Imperials, and she giggled. It started out muffled as she tried to contain it but grew until her eyes spilled over with tears of mirth. Reno's moronic grin turned basheful as he scratched behind his head and chuckled too.

"Please frogive me!" she pleaded as Tennouji looked even more incensed. "I should have helped you with them." Rising to her feet fluidly she quickly undressed him again so he was in his boxers and proceeded to correct the way he had laid the white jacket across his chest. She had him hold it shut then as she managed to create pants out of the strange shaped cloth by folding it just so and taking the long strips to belt it properly. Going behind the screen she fetched the more ornate black jacket and put it on over the plain white one, adding a second belt here so it would stay shut.

"Well lookie here. I'm like an Origami yo. Isn't that those paper things you guys fold up?" Hiromi giggled behind her hand again. "Thanks OJ-Sam."

"_Oujou-sama,_" Tennouji stressed.

"Ol' Joe Sammy? That's a terrible name for a girl," Reno wrinkled his nose.

"Oujou-sama is a term of respect. It is 'princess' in your tongue," Hiromi explained. "You can just be calling me princess if it would be easier for you to say."

"Princess it is," he nodded as he filed the term away. Better to be preceived stupid he supposed at this point. He sat down at Hiromi's beckoning behind the tray laden with different meats and vegetables, some battered and fried, others seared, and a few bright slices so vibrantly colored he thought they might be raw. All were arranged on little plates and a bowl of plain white rice was piled high before him. Reno looked for a spoon or fork but saw no silver.

"You said you required directions," Tennouji announced from his right and because he was sure he'd be committing some pain worthy sin he looked at his other host.

"I need to get to the west side of the city," Reno replied.

"Like this," Hiromi seemed to catch on as his eyes slid to the food again. She lifted two wooden sticks and placed them between her fingers. Then in a strange display of puppetry and art she lifted a piece of meat, placed it on the rice, then scooped up the rice and the meat before positioning it near his mouth. Reno ducked his head and scoured the bottom of the chopsticks to Hiromi and Tennouji's joint curiosity.

"No tricks? It really just stays like that?" he asked. Hiromi looked moderatley incensed as she moved to put the food in her mouth. "You can eat like that with just those two sticks?" he hurried to clarify before she acted as poison tester. Leaning forward on his knees he snatched the bite before she could do anything and hoped his response hadn't just put him in the grave. Instead he was faced with a delicious medly of taste. Sitting back stupefied he tried to think when the last time he'd had such marvelous food...and never was the answer.

"That's the best food I've ever had," he announced dumbfounded. "Lemme see those. How do I use 'em? Is it bad to just eat with my fingers?"

It took several attempts and a great deal of dropping things for Reno to even accomplish the second bite. Tennouji was silent as Hirono offered the occaisional tip but they let their guest attack his food with gusto and much spilling.

"The west side of the city would mean you want to go and see the Nakamura family," Tennouji said as Reno was just scraping the last of the rice into his mouth rather unprofessionally with the chop sticks. "The Shin-Ra have had far too many clandestine meetings with them for you to have any other destination in the west." Tennouji pulled the disk Verdot had given him and held it up to the candlelight. "We must really invest in this Shin-Ra technology. I hear the Imperial Army is frantic in its scramble to gather technology and code breakers."

Reno's heart stopped beating and he studied the disk, watching his eyes cast ghostly reflections in its shimmering surface. His whole future – at least the 'easiest' path to his future – lie in successfully delivering that information. Reno saw it in Tennouji's eyes and before he could snap the disk up the other man had shattered it. The red head was just fast enough to catch a handful of shards.

"Now that was hardly a friendly thing to do yo," Reno said as the muscles in his chest constricted. He leaned back and sat down on his haunches, considering his options.

"You work for those wolves the Turks do you not?" Tennouji demanded. He sounded far away as Reno's mind worked through what should be done now.

"Princess, I think you owe me a favor," Reno said as he turned away from Tennouji to face her directly. He pinned her beneathe his green eyes. Hirono's face was blank as she studied what was happening between her brother and her guest. "And I'm going to cache in on it by way of you taking me to the Nakamuras."

"The Turks are a dangerous enemy," Hirono said softly. "But I am thinking the are a dangerous friend."

"Better to keep your enemies closer," Reno shrugged. "So they say in the east. I'm not asking you to become our ally but I _will_ be getting to the Nakamura's to finish my job. And when it is done I will _not _be forgetting the actions of your family, Princess."

Reno heard the hiss of Tennouji's sword as it was drawn and he reacted like a viper, snatching Hirono's short sword from its place on her sash and turning to catch the longer blade. His heart was pounding with adrenalyn and every sense was as sharp as their blades.

"When your clothings are done we be going Reno. You have my word as daughter of the Yatsuba family."


	14. Xīhé

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 14: Xīhé

Reno tugged on Hirono's sleeve as her body began to shift from stillness into motion in her ethereal grace. He was still dumbfounded by the way she and Tennouji seemed to stand still and move all at one time without disturbing anything. It was like they were pieces of the backdrop in their muted colors and their motions were an expected part of the natural staging.

The streets had been empty all night long. As they sloped up towards the feet of the mountains the only illumination was the red ember glow of the harbors across the river which would occaisionally seep through into the labyrinthine alleywas to cast a bloody tint on the ground. Punctures of strife would errupt, usually the drunken brawls of a handfull of Imperial Soldiers carrousing in the streets.

It was not a sound that stopped Reno however, it was a smell. He could scent Mako, raw and virulent. Tapping his nose he motioned for Hirono and Tennouji to follow him. Creeping slowly forward in his muddy shoes – Lyn _so_ owed him a new pair – he made as close to soundless progress as he could manage.

Hirono's hand tightened like a vice around Reno's shoulder as she pushed him against a slimy wooden wall. The Mako smell was intoxicating here. Nauseating and exotic he'd never properly smelled the raw material before but he'd seen enough of the street drugs Makas and Morpha in his time to recognize it.

The chugging sound of gallons of liquid escaping its confinement came from the direction of the smell. From his rather crushed vantage point Reno could see someone pacing ahead, a cigarette ember bobbing with the stride.

"Your methods are...unorthodox," a young man stated.

"Verdot's concern is results."

Lyn.

"There will be casualties."

"That's the thing about War. Its the business of death. And what better way to summon a God of Death than to cause death?" Lyn chuckled and flicked her cigarette into the Mako. Reno flinched reflexively. Raw Mako didn't burn like the mixture used to fuel combustion engines but he'd seen another slums kid go up in flames for just such a stupid mistake.

"What is that?" Hirono hissed beside him as her vice grip tightened.

A small green glass globe rested in Lyn's palm. She studied it a moment before a crooked grin slashed across her face.

"Be ready Tseng. Duck when you feel the hair on the back of your neck prickle." Lyn tossed the green glass up, caught it, and secured it in the dull edge of a Wutain blade as she drew it. And then the strangest thing happened. The Mako suddenly burst into fire for no apparent reason. Screams rent the night as the sleeping neighborhood suddenly came alive with the chaotic sound of an evacuating populace.

Tennouji mumbled something sharply to his sister and they looked between each other in alarm. Reno didn't understand a word of their gibberish but he thought about the rumors that had circulated through Midgar about magic stones. If it killed him he was going to get one.

Lyn seemed entirely unconcerned as she basked the inferno while Tseng shifted on his feet, eyes flickering back and forth. Hirono was pulling at his sleeve but he wanted to see what Lyn was summoning.

"She's here," Tennouji whispered, suddenly pressing both Reno and Hirono against their wall.

The place Lyn had been standing was suddenly vacant and Tseng had disappered too. Where Lyn had been standing was a deep rent in the earth, the mud dry and smoking. Reno spotted Lyn suddenly sauntering up to inspect the great ravine with her sword resting on her shoulder.

"I thought you'd gotten tired of me. You never return my calls anymore," she spoke to the gouge mark. "Come on and play with me again, won't you Xīhé?"

"You are an amazing pestilence," a woman's voice came from the strange horned beast that suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the trench. "No matter how many times I put you down you always manage to resurface."

"We've been goin' at this long enough you should know I'm not about to lay down and die."

The horned woman moved so fast Reno only caught the blur of red metal and Lyn performed a strange jerk and roll. When she stood she held a strange weapon by its crossbars. There were four tips with savely edged blades, reflections of the fires shimmering along the honed metal.

"Enough foreplay love. Come at me like you mean it," Lyn goaded as she extended her blade. Metal flashed free from Xīhé's side and they clashed, sparks showering like a volacanic erruption as their swords screamed along each other's edges. Lyn was stronger and threw Xīhé back before going on the offensive with speed and power to match any fight between men Reno had ever seen.

Xīhé fell back a few paces until she managed to turn the tide with some quick footwork and a beautiful parry. Lyn smiled like a demon, her golden eyes gleaming as she gave ground. They struggled for dominance back and forth quite some time until Xīhé very nearly ended it with a low slice that would have cut out the knees from a lesser opponent. Instead Lyn avoided the blow effortlessly and sent a crushing left cross along Xīhé's jaw. The smaller woman staggered back and shook her head as fragments of her white mask fell away.

Swiping the mask from her face Xīhé lunged back into the fray with renewed gusto. Now that he could see her face and he wasn't confused by the horns Reno saw the sharpness of her features, how pixie-like and savage they looked in the fire and sparks. She was undoubtably beautiful, her black hair braided back out of her face as her slight form moved quickly, weaving between Lyn's attacks. Lyn could barely keep up but by the looks of her expression she could have been sparring with a favorite pupil.

"Wutai will fall!" Lyn advised around a nearly decapitating blow. "Xīhé do what's right and join the Shin-Ra before we decimate the country. The President will leave nothing for your people but scraps and at best a lab for you and the Emperor."

"Not before your bones are sacrificed to Leviathan!" Xīhé snarled.

"Come on then baby," Lyn jibed. She miscalculated in a brutal downward swipe. Reno saw it in her face as she did and watched the terribly perfect shifting of her weight and the gripping of her sword by both hands as Xīhé prepared a killing blow.

A gunshot ripped over the sound of popping wood and burning houses. It pinged off Xīhé's sword as she danced backwards, latching her hand on the cross bars of her strange weapon. Tseng emerged from one of the shadows cast by the blaze with the tip of his gun smoking. Xīhé pulled her throwing weapon up and a twining red pattern began to glow up her arm like a river of lava. Lyn's smile faltered.

"Go!" she barked as Tennouji and Hirono dragged the enraptured Reno away. A howl made the ground shake in the suddenly eerily quiet night. Reno craned his head back and saw a great horned beast made of fire rearing above the single story, wooden homes crouched close together. It let out another great shriek that threatened to break the earth. Plumes of fire leaped around it.

Reno couldn't look anymore at the risk of losing his footing. Tennouji and Hirono were dashing ahead of him. He focused on their dark clothing as a false sunrise lit the sky. The heat singed the back of his neck and made his clothing hot where it brushed his skin. Heart pumping he continued until Hirono yanked him around a corner and the trio huddled together as blinding light seared through Reno's tightly closed eyes.

In the sightless aftermath Reno could hear the chaos. People were running and shouting everywhere, orders bellowed above the general clamor as the populace scurried to save themselves.

"What was that?" Reno asked hoarsely as he blinked dumbly.

" Xīhé, leader of the elite ninja under Emperor Godo. Also daughter of the High Priest of the Sun Sect Water Shamans and is wife of Godo," Hirono explained. "Between her Ifrit and Emperor Godo's Leviathan you thinking your Shin-Ra have chance?"

"Whether we've got a chance or not isn't my concern," Reno shrugged. "The Nakamuras are."

"Strange boy," Hirono shook her head.

"Foolish maybe. But admirable..." Tennouji countered. "The Nakamura family estate is this way."

Since the city was otherwise engaged reaching the Nakamura household was a cake walk by Reno's standards. There wasn't nearly as much slinking involved and they arrived about the time dawn was beginning to crest over the city. Tennouji drew water from a nearby well, passing the first drink to his sister while Reno studied the way the horizon was beginning to light over away towards the ocean. It started a rosy pink like...

"Cas..." he sighed as his heart constricted. He swallowed the lump before the tears could well up and turned around to accept the drink from Tennouji.

"More work than your used to?" Tennouji jibed. "Your face is all red."

"Air's different here yo," he shrugged and slurped water. "That their place?" he nodded down a muddy lane where a small gate stood undisturbed.

"We do not go further. Nakamuras and Yatsubas are not friends," Hirono informed him.

"Did Tan o' John break their coded information too?" Reno sniped.

"I think sneaking you past Xīhé and her hunters leaves us even. Our next meeting will have to decide our futures," Tennouji replied with something of a sour expression.

"Don't break my shit and we'll be fine yo," Reno answered as the other half of his mind contemlated how he was going to convince the Nakamura's to accept a proposal he only understood superficially. He had no details and no proof of his allegience to the Turks. "I might still taze you though," he added as an afterthought. Hirono snickered as Tennouji turned away with an irritated expression on his face.

"Please use caution Reno. Wutai not like east." She reached into her belt and pulled out the small knife as long as her forearm, leaving the three foot killing sword in its place. The sheath gleamed of polished wood set with the face of the demon tattooed across her back. "I see you again. My gift for helping me. May my wakizashi protect you."

"Thank you," he took the blade and lowered his head. "I'll be seein' ya Princess." He winked, thought he saw the faintest blush in her cheeks, and then she and Tennouji were gone.

Without further ado Reno strolled up to the gates and knocked. He watched guards materialize and before he knew it he was stripped of his weapons and being carted inside with a knife at his throat. As he was manhandled along numerous corridors glowing with the sunrise he wondered if his life was going to continue being a series of kidnappings and near death situations. Soon he was on his knees with a hand pushing his nose into the floor waiting for something new to happen.

A man asked something in an even tone and his subordiante answered in rapid, quick speech. The conversation continued for a handful more sentences before the hand was removed from the back of his head. Reno hesitated to raise his head for fear of breaking some rule of etiquette. A firm command was issued without sounding unkind and Reno was urged to look up.

He was greeted by a dignified old man with wild white hair and the eyes of a tiger. Deep grooves around his mouth and canyons across his forehead marked his age, charactered by wild eyebrows and the grim set of his mouth. His robes were all white and detailed with great golden fish.

"You have the eyes of a cat, stranger," the old man said. "And they glow like Ma-ko."

"You have the face of a tiger," Reno replied. There were other old men nearby and they exchanged looks while the Tiger man simply regarded him.

"And what brings you to me, Neko-chan?"

"I came on behalf of the Turks," Reno answered.

"And what proof do you have of their favor?"

"Verdot sent me to prove our good will. I'm yours to command." Reno had answered without thinking and knew it. The men in the room whispered again as the Tiger considered the mouse he'd caught.

"There was no token given to you by Verdot?" Tiger asked.

"It was destroyed."

"Take him away. I have no use for clumsy servants. If the Turks cannot send me a competent messenger it must mean that they do not take the Nakamuras seriously!" Tiger scoffed in disgust.

"I came across the city through enemy territory, I defeated Hokuto of the Yatsubas, I barely avoided being blown up by Xīhé's Ifrit, and I am here after your morning tea yo," Reno snapped irritably before men could put hands on him again. "Token or not _I_ am serious about an alliance between the Nakamuras and the Turks. We face Ifrit and Leviathan and we _will_ overcome them. You can either join us or get caught in the cross fire, Tiger-boss."

"Such impertinance. You men of the east think you know Wutai and mean to break her."

"Give me a chance to prove we mean business," Reno implored. "You will not be disappointed Tiger-boss." Tiger stroked his stubbly chin as he considered Reno. His eyes detailed the youth before him.

"You say you have seen Xīhé's Ifrit?"

"Horns, fire, yeah," Reno nodded.

"Then I want you to take something from her. I want the pearl she has given to her only daughter."

"Fine," Reno nodded because there was no point arguing. What else was he going to do? He belonged to the Turks and the Turks wanted the Nakamuras. If the old man wanted him to fail he would die trying or come back victorious.

"No argument?" Tiger asked with raised eyebrows.

"I'll do what I have to," he shook his head. "So I take this pearl and you agree to cooperate with the Turks? And I mean fully cooperate with the Turks."

"We will be allies when you have brought me this pearl," Tiger nodded.

"Done deal then Tiger-boss. Shake on it." Reno stood and stuck out his hand even though there were a good fifteen feet separating them. Tiger chuckled before rocking up to his feet. He crossed the room in long strides and his thick knuckled hand grasped Reno's smaller one, crushing it.

"Take Neko-chan for something to eat and then give him a place to rest. He has a journey ahead of him."

As men closed ranks on him Reno felt the weariness hit him like a full speed truck. His impossible tasks just kept piling up. His mind flickered to Hirono and suddenly he ached for Cassie. He considered for a moment that one day very soon he might be dead.

"Too bad Rude ain't here yo," he sighed aloud.


	15. Rude

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 15: Rude

Rude stood with his hands in his pockets. He was leaning against a broken lamp post waiting on the next train. On it rode one very important passenger; Damien Rude, proud captain of a unit of the Fenrirs, on leave after years of service far away in Wutai, and elder brother to Darryl Rude. They hadn't seen each other in two long years since their elder brother Antoine had died and both Damien and Clyde had instantly joined out of sorrow and anger.

The train came screeching along the old tracks, sparks leaping as the breaks were applied. The patched up slag groaned to a halt and chugging out of breath until it hissed to a stop. Rude remained where he was as women and children surged forward in a tide of anticipation. As the doors sighed open there was the commotion of greetings. He listened to the sounds of elation and heartbreak as this and that soldier arrived or failed to disembark. For fifteen minutes he was patient until the hubub died down. People began to disperse and as they parted he could see the small, dark man with broad shoulders searching for him.

Rude lifted his hand and Damien immediately honed in on him. His elder brother crossed the platform so they could meet halfway and crush each other in a competetive embrace. Damien lifted him up just to show his strength was superier despite Rude's surprising height.

"When I left you were still wiping snot from your nose!" he laughed as he put Rude down.

"Big man Captain," Rude clapped a hand on his shoulder. "We're proud of you Damien."

"Thanks little bro. Clyde written home much?"

"Every couple of weeks. Says he's in Hana up north?"

"I've been posted down south," Damien shrugged. "Hana's cold I hear. Some of my boys served up there a year and they all say if they're gonna be cut down by Woots in black pajamas they'd rather do it without frostbite." Rude cracked his first grin that month. "How's your mangy red bud?" The smile dropped from his face.

"Turks," was all he could manage to say. Damien's expression fell with Rude's sudden somberness. They were two years apart but had always been close being the youngest of the brothers and Rude's natural reticense made sense to him the same way it made sense to Reno.

"And how is it you didn't go too?"

All he could muster was a shrug. Damien rubbed a hand on the back of his neck and seemed to search the ground for an answer. When he came up with nothing he socked Rude in the arm with a crippling blow. Rude jerked away rubbing the assailed flesh.

"Let's go get some beer!" Damien announced. The smaller man slung his rucksack over one shoulder and began cutting across the train platform.

They made for a striking pair. Rude was tall and muscled, dressed in work stained clothes with his honey colored Mako eyes. Damien was shorter, broader, and in the sharp lined black and green uniform of a Fenrir. Several heads turned to watch them pass, eye lashes fluttered, and a few skirts were inched just a little further north.

For all this attention Damien and Rude were entirely removed from the Midgar slums. Instead Rude was caught up in the drama of what the sun actually looked and felt like, the way the wind carried things, stories of sudden rains and the sweeping tides of the ocean. He listened to the names and descriptions of Damien's men; Jeremiah, Tono, Blake, Hal, Ron and Ronald, June Bug and so many others. He learned about women with parisols dressed in silk. And by the time they reached the local dive the Rude clan most often frequented when there was some scrap of disposable income Rude had learned just about everything there was to know about Woots in black pajamas.

"They're straight out of your worst night mare," Damien shook his head as he shouldered through the rickety door. They waded into a sea of smoke and neon lights that made it impossible to see the faces of the people around them. "Midgets from Hell. Never see 'em coming, never see 'em leavin', and they're back sure as heartburn from slop in basic. Wanna join?"

"No," Rude answered simply to Damien's amusement.

"Hey babe, two Cosomo Red Ales," the Fenrir nodded at a bartender. Only her eyes were noticable due to the overpowering presence of her shimmering silver make up. "I'm serious though little bro. Apart from the rations and Killer Pajama Midgets its a good gig. I make good money, got to see the world beyond the slums, and there's opportunity. Of course that could be due to the fact men are dropping like flies..."

"You get a bonus for recruits?" Rude asked.

"Only if you make it the first six months after deployment," Damien laughed. "Thanks," he dropped some coin on the counter for the bright eyed bartender. They moved to a slightly less crowded corner and shooed off some obviously underage kids. Settling in Damien leaned across the table to get a better look at his kid brother.

"You've been in some trouble havne't you?" Damien demanded. Rude shrugged.

"It's Midgar."

"I'm serious. It would take a crowbar, dynamite, and a suicide bomber to pry you and Mangey Red apart. You even have matching glowy eyes. Why is he with the Turks and you're still working grunt labor in the slums?"

Reno and Rude had never told anyone about Lyn, Hojo, or even most of the bum lazy nights they spent scavenging the slums for some type of entertainment – usually the bike races. Don Corneo hadn't ever been fully explained even to Rude himself. So now how was he expected to answer for the sudden absence of his best friend? How would anyone ever understand that Rude didn't know what to do without his magnetic and troublesome companion?

"Cassie died," he answered. Damien considered this reply. He knew very little of Cassie and even less about the depth of Reno's connection to her. With the words officially spoken Rude felt a fresh wound open that hadn't been there. It had been a quiet pain building like an infection.

In a household of ten children with his tacit, independent nature Rude was often overlooked. Cassie had not overlooked him. She and Reno had their special bond but Cassie had made him as welcome in her home as he had ever been anywhere whether Reno was there or not. He still remembered a few nights on her couch when he'd been chased out of his own house on one of his old man's rampages and her thrifty needlework whenever she noticed a tear in his clothes. And at some point she had pinpointed his weakness for sweets which meant she would scrimp and save and once a month she'd bake an apple pie out of real apples. The money it had cost her had to have been amazing but she'd click her tongue and serve him extra.

Rude blinked away the startling urge to cry. Apples and her cheap perfume. God he missed that smell.

Damien was respectfully silent as he read the gravity of these two words in Rude's reaction to them. He took a long draft of his beer as Rude hunted for his composure. When he was sure his little brother was capable of thinking again he set the beer aside to peer through the smoke again.

"I'm good in a fight and I seem to keep my head better than most Darryl," he stated. "But those Woots taught me that don't add up to a hill of beans. What matters is the folks you keep near you. Cassie and Reno are the only two names I ever heard you say growing up. You can't go where Cassie is, least not yet, but Reno? He gets you into more trouble than a cat on Makas but I know he has your back. If I was you I'd stick with him."

"He wouldn't let me in the car," Rude sighed as he felt a flare of frustration for not choking his red headed friend out and making his own deal with Lyn.

"So take the train," Damien shrugged. "I used to worry he'd get you killed but I think he's about the only thing you ever had that made you want to live. You're not gay are you?" Rude was halfway swallowing a drink of beer and choked. "Because that's...well I guess I can adjust. Just don't be the girl."

Rude leaned forward so he could try to hack the rest of the ale out of his lungs. It took another moment of wheezing before he could look up at Damien who was still seriously contemplating this angle.

"_No_," Rude corrected emphatically.

"Okay good." A shadow of doubt remained in Damien's eyes as he scoured Rude. "Very good. And now that's settled that bar tender has been makin' eyes at me all night. Or maybe it's just the reflection off her make up. Either way I'm going for the kill. Take my crap home?" He slung the rucksack into Rude's chest.

"Tonight?"

"Man, it's all dudes out there. And any girls? Well they're the type that eat coal and shit diamonds if you know what I mean. I'll be there in time for ma's breakfast."

"They'll kill me," Rude warned.

"Don't be a wuss just 'cuz your boyfriend's away on the fronts," Damien jibed.

"STDs," Rude pointed a finger at him as if he was placing a hex. "Bad ones," he added for good measure.

"That should mean she's practiced and kinky," Damien grinned with the flash of white teeth and was gone. Shaking his head Rude got up and made his way lazily through the ever nighttime streets of the slums, past the knots of troubled teens gathered in alleys smoking cigarettes or playing dice, past girls of all ages looking for work, and past the few late shift workers just clocking out and shuffling homeward like him.

At home he was greeted by the numerous calls of his mother and six sisters. They came rushing out of the kitchen and too few rooms to see if Damien was with him, their dusky arms and calves exposed since they'd dressed their best in anticipation.

"Is he here?"

"Where's Damien?"

"Not here yet?"

The questions crashed into him. He held up his hands in a sign of surrender.

"He'll be here in the morning," he explained. "Last minute Fenrir business." A chorus of disappointed sighs escaped them as they shuffled three girls into two bed rooms to change out of their dresses so they might stay clean until tomorrow morning. His mother was leaning against the door frame, all of her blond hair waving about her shoulders as she smiled crookedly. Amusement twinkled in her intelligent honey eyes.

"'Fenrir business'? Is that what he calls it?" she asked lightly. Rude shrugged. "Come have something to eat then before your father gets home. There'll be no sparing anything then," she advised. Setting Damien's bag down near the door Rude followed her into the cramped kitchen where four of his sisters had returned.

When she wasn't doing housework and minding her gaggle of girls Celia Rude ran a small tailoring business out of the house. All of Rude's sisters had been forced to learn the trade as soon as they could thread a needle. It was ironic only Cassie had ever noticed the state of his clothing but then again there was garment after garment in need of alterations, mending, hemming, and even the occaisional embroidering.

At present all four sisters were grumbling to each other in their disappointment as they worked by hand mending the tears in a heaping stack of factory shirts rising in a great peak on the kitchen table. His oldest sister Amelia pushed some shirts aside so he'd have a space to eat and narrowly saved him from sitting squarely on a pin cushion.

"Did he look well?" Amelia prompted.

"Built like dad. Healthy," he nodded.

"Built like your father you say? Now that must be something with Damien's stature," his mother mused. The girls snickered about the table as Rude accepted a plate laden with ham, potatoes, and canned greens. He lifted his eyebrows in surprise at the splurge on meat.

"Papa won't be happy," Jane said to his other side. "Damien should have come straight home first, nevermind any Fenrir business. Didn't they already debrief him overseas?"

"Oh it's a debriefing alright," Candace snorted to the amusement of the other girls.

"Why's that funny?" Beatrice, all of ten years old demanded as she fussed to thread her needle for a new seam.

"Mind yourself Candy," Celia instructed with a sharp look.

"This is one of those 'when you're older' things isn't it?" Beatrice looked up at Rude with a forlorn expression. Rude bobbed his head and offered her a bite of his ham. She took it gleefully.

Antoine Rude Sr. chose this moment to enter the house. The sisters threw leery expressions at each other as Celia motioned for them to clear out of the way. Beatrice stole another bite of Rude's dinner and thought herself quite sly as Rude pointedly looked the other direction and pushed a choice cut towards her. Then she scampered away to the room she shared with Candace and Jane.

"Where's Damien?" Antoine asked as he entered the kitchen with his jacket over one arm. Celia was hurriedly removing clothing from the table so he might have a clear space to sit. He lowered his weary height and thick body into a chair as Celia provided a plate of food with practiced timing.

"Debriefing. Here tomorrow morning," Rude replied pragmatically. Antoine preferred direct information.

"Why would they debrief him after he got off a civilian train?" Antoine demanded as the clouds of his quick temper began to gather. Rude set aside his plate and shrugged. His father leaned forward as his black eyes honed in on Rude with surgical precision. There had always been something a little inhuman in his father. Probably since he came from Gongaga and had seen the bloody civil wars there first hand. "Boy, where is your brother?"

"Debriefing," Rude repeated. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he was reeling as his chair tipped backwards to dump him into the wall.

"Antoine!" Celia cried as she put her two hands on one of his tree thick arms, fear shadowing the usual honey tint of her eyes. "Please, that's all he knows! He can't be held accountable for the actions of Shin-Ra corp and their instructions to their soldiers!"

"The boy's a liar!" Antoine snarled. "Been a sneaky little liar ever since that slums stray sank his teeth into him!"

Rude picked himself up off the ground. He righted the chair and wiped the blood from his mouth, shaking the stars out of his vision.

"That's all the information we have Antoine. Damien'll be home tomorrow morning and you can ask him then. Please, don't take this out on Darryl. He didn't do anything wrong."

_I should get going to Cass – _Rude cut himself off mid thought. She wasn't there anymore.

"Celia so help me!" Antoine poised to strike her and she shied backwards, the memory of too many bloodied nights overcoming her pleas. "You boy, where did your brother go?"

"Debriefing," Rude repeated. His father hand't always been this bad but Antoine Jr.'s death had made him crazier. It was as if he sought to compensate by controlling everything else, attempting to force reality to bend to his will. Rude reflected he should tell the truth but the pointlessness of his father's anger at this had struck a nerve made too raw by recent events. Antoine's belt snapped loose and Rude clenched his fists.

"D-daddy..." came Beatrice's trembling voice by the door.

"Go to your room," Antoine instructed.

"Daddy Darryl's tellin' the truth. Darryl wouldn't lie to you. Please don't hit him again daddy."

Rude hadn't even blinked but he wasn't sure what had happened. Beatrice was in a heap on the floor and blood was pooling under her crumpled form. Antoine's buckle gleamed red with blood in the sickly kitchen light.

When Celia screamed Rude realized he was holding whatever was left of a broken wood chair, standing over his father on the splinters of the kitchen table. Antoine was unconscious and bloody, his nose broken but his chest still rose and fell. His sisters suddenly burst into wails like so many startled birds.

Rude looked at his mother and saw the horror on her face, saw the fear in the faces of his crying sisters. He dropped the bloody wood and went to Beatrice. Moving hair from her face he saw the laceration running down her forehead and temple. Gently cradling her he carried her out of the room and into the streets moving as swiftly as he dared.

The local clinic wasn't far and Rude had been enough times that he knew the doctor, an eternally ancient man who had never aged in their ten year acquaintence. He breezed past the receptionist without saying anything and stood directly in the doorway to the grimly lit room where Dr. Silas could usually be found setting bones and applying stitches. He was in the middle of his patently small stitches along the arm of a scruffy worker when he realized Rude had arrived.

"Lauren my dear, will you finish this lad?" Dr. Silas called. The padding footsteps of the receptionist came and she slipped past a narrow place Rude allowed between himself and the doorframe. "Thank you. As for you, bring the girl into surgery."

Rude followed with long strides after Dr. Silas' unusually swift pace. He set Beatrice down on it and realized the entire front of his shirt and his right arm were drenched in her blood. Dr. Silas examined her briefly before draping a heavy blanket of some sort over her and pulling over the arm of a strange machine fitted with a nozzle. He flipped a switch and Rude listened to the hum it made, all the time growing more anxious.

Dr. Silas pushed the arm away after he'd scanned her skull and then went to a screen in the corner of his room. Rude vaguely remembered helping Reno affix it to the wall and listening to his idle complaining about hardware and electronics as he shocked himself twice. But now Dr. Silas studied the results on the screen.

"It's not the outside we need to worry about," he said after a moment, rubbing his chin. His gray eyes beneath their salt and pepper brows flicked at Beatrice. "Subdural hematoma swelling fast."

"Fix it," Rude prompted as Dr. Silas just stood studying the strange black and white pictures aligned in a grid across his screen.

"I can't. Clinics like mine are run on good will and community donations. I haven't the tools, technology, or even the know how. And the few places with these things won't take a penniless slums girl, not even located in the slums."

"Fix her," Rude repeated as he took a step forward. Dr. Silas was not threatened and merely held his hands palm up.

"I cannot Darryl," he repeated with a forlorn expression.

"Excuse me," a middle aged man in what had once been a good suit said. He lifted a glimmering badge from the Slums PD. "Detective Quincy Drake. Please put your hands behind your back Darryl Rude. You're under arrest for assault and battery."


	16. The FIU

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 16: The FIU

Rude sat cuffed to Drake's desk in the busy precinct. He was strangely calm as he watched prostitutes, drug dealers, addicts, drunks, and youthful malcontents parade through in their shiny cuffs. Several of them nodded with stupid grins to several different police men, a few of the women winked at a good looking young detective who was trying to get some information out of a drug addled old man pertaining to a robbery.

Drake returned suddenly with two cups of strong smelling coffee in styrofoam cups. Rude accepted his with a nod as Drake settled into his old chair behind a square box that might have been computer excavated from some prehistoric age. He seemed to briefly consider a file on his desk before flipping it shut.

"You've had a rough month," he said at length. Darryl made no movement but to sip his coffee. "One friend dead and one gone away to war. Couple years ago lost your oldest brother to Wutai. And you must have had dealings with the Shin-Ra. I've only seen that glow in the eyes of Shin-Ra SOLDIERS. You probably just got caught up with them since they've had their fangs in Landon."

Rude remained silent as he waited for the hammer fall. He'd never actually been picked up by the police before, a remarkable feat for a slums kid. Of course he was eighteen now and the law would apply to him full force. A juvenile record was nothing compared to charged laid on him as an adult.

"Your neighbor called in the domestic violence and we found your father still unconscious. He's been taken to Dr. Silas's clinic. He'll be alright."

Rude was relieved inspite of the situation.

"Your sister is another story. Dr. Silas is looking for alternatives now." Again, a small degree of relief. "Will you tell me what happened."

Rude took another sip of his coffee. "Beatrice tried to stop him and he hit her with his belt. When I saw her bleeding I just reacted. Stop the man that had hurt her and get her to help."

"Your brother Damien just came home, didn't he? Where was he?"

"Woman at the bar. The Taben."

"Why was he sent home?"

"Leave."

Drake opened the file on his desk again and sifted through some pages. Seeming to find the one for which he searched he extended it with a grim expression. Rude set down his coffee with a sense of forboding. Drake's face was a mask. The page was crisp and it took him a moment to dredge up his ill used reading skills.

"Captain Damien Rude" was written across the top. His eyes were drawn to a highlighted section with a single setence. "Captain Rude is absent without leave and a warrant has been issued for his arrest on suspicions of Treason."

His fingers brushed over the ridges of an official seal pressed into the bottom of the page. Rude looked for signs of forgery anyway though he had no way to differentiate this document from any other. He flipped it over for good measure and then set it down on the desk.

"Hand delivered by a Fenrir officer from Wall Street," Drake nodded. He placed his fingertips together as he studied Rude's reaction. "I got this just as I was answering the call for your house. Shin-Ra agents and Turks are crawling all over the city by now looking for him. You said your brother ran off with a woman?"

Rude's mind scrambled to come up with something that made sense. A furrow appeared in his brow as he struggled to envision Damien selling out his countrymen. This couldn't be the Damien who was telling him stories of his unit less than four hours ago.

"That'll be enough from the local PD," announced a man from behind Rude. A pair of hands marked with tattooed symbols settled on either of his shoulders. Rude tensed and looked up into the face of a middle aged man with square features. His auburn hair was cut short with an old scar leaving a light trail through it along the left side. "I'll be taking him into custody now."

"For assault and battery in a domestic violence case?" Drake asked as Rude realized he was wearing a Fenrir uniform. "Lieutenant Melvin Kastanakis. Investigator for the Fenrirs. Darryl Rude is now a part of my investigation and I will be taking him. I've cleared it with your director Detective and I promise not to run away with him if you'd like to check for yourself."

Drake stared at Kastanakis a good long moment before rising silently. When he vanished into a corner office Rude felt the hands on his shoulders flex like talons. Rude felt uncomfortably too mouse like. Nothing was said until Drake returned holding the paperwork.

"Understood," was all he said. His keys jangled as he worked to unlock the cuffs. Kastanakis nodded to Drake who stood uneasily by his desk as Rude was escorted outside. He found himself faced by a pair of muscled Fenrirs with loaded side arms. He was pushed into one of the dark, unmarked vehicles that occaisionally cut throught he slums and made the ever present choke of pedestrians part like the cars carried a plauge. And so they drove with Rude wedged between his captors.

He couldn't see where they turned or what part of town they were in when they stopped. All he knew was that he was shuffled out and suddenly sitting in a room with one door and no windows, a greenish light glaring down at him, and one grimey table heavily scarred with use. Rude tried to ignore the numerous suggestions of his imagination what those uses might be. Instead he focused on what he might do if these "Investigators" decided he was guilty.

The door opened at last and Kastanakis entered alone. He closed it behind him before striding confidently around the table where Rude remained absolutely still. His boots made loud noises on the concrete flooring. There was a drain beneath the table Rude happened to notice.

Rather than notice the stains around it – a bit too reddish to just be rust – Rude inspected the array of bands, stripes, and pins decorating Kastanakis' uniform. Obviously he was decorated meaning he was efficient and capable. But of what? _Don't think about that. _He was well built, young, and he moved with the air of someone used to both command and hard work.

"I assume you have some idea why the Fenrir Investigations Unit has brought you here," Kastanakis replied pleasantly. Rude shook his head once. "Your brother is suspected of trading intelligence with Wutai spies. A week ago he went AWOL. We've been tracking him."

"He was in uniform," Rude replied, skeptical of either the efficiency of the FIU or the credibility of their claims.

"Quite clever actually. The easiest way in and out of Midgar is wearing a Fenrir uniform. Civilians will practically fall all over themselves to help a uniformed soldier. We tailed the two of you all the way to the Taben and when you two split up we caught him red handed passing information along to Woot spies." Kastanakis had been pacing behind Rude the whole time but his footsteps stopped behind the chair now. He rested one hand on the back of the chair and the other on the table. "During interrogation he named you as a conspirator and informed us you were holding something for him."

"Interrogated?" Rude prompted, entirely bypassing the implications of treachery in favor of figuring the methods used to extract the "truth".

"A process involving we Investigators asking questions and he answering them," Kastanakis replied with a pleasant smile that chilled Rude's blood.

"Process?"

"All I need from you is the disk. We recovered the rest of his possessions from your home but I cannot find the disk."

Rude remained silent. This whole situation was way above his head. Damien was no traitor and he had no disk. The only information he had was barely two hours in Damien's company, a conversation about Reno and his sexuality, a bloodied lip, his sister's grim prognosis, and the knowledge that he had very nearly killed his father. None of this was Kastanakis' concern.

"You'll walk out of here a free man if you just turn it over," Kastanakis cajoled as Rude scrambled to find something to feed him. Anything. Reno would know what to say. What would Reno say?

"_It was important? I thought it was something you'd give a girl bein' so shiny and all. Gave it to a hooker in Wall Street."_

Yeah, Reno would say something like that. And then he'd take his beating with a grin until his uncanny luck turned and he managed to get the upper hand and escape. How much did Rude trust his luck?

"Fix Beatrice," Rude replied instead. "She lives and I'll get it to you." Kastanakis laughed, his face handsome despite the sickly light. Rude waited with tensed muscles. There was nothing he could do at this exact moment for Damien but if this information was really that important he could at least save Beatrice. Additionally it would buy him precious time to come up with something and if nothing came to him then he would be no worse off than if he flat out denied the charges.

"That's not how this works," Kastanakis said when he had recovered his composure. "I don't give a damn about one more dead girl in the Midgar slums." He put his hands down on the table. "Now tell me where the disk is and once its in my hands I can consider perhaps doing something for her in honor of your confession."

Rude stared across the table at him. He'd been told countless times he had a good poker face and he hoped it held true as he considered his options. Kastanakis was a dog. He'd never uphold his word. There was no disk and no one wiley enough to play along with his lies if he sent Kastanakis to them. Rude and Damien would disappear like so many nameless poor, Beatrice would die, and who could say what would happen the rest of his family?

"Lyn," Rude answered at length. "Turks."

Kastanakis smiled again and this time rather than bemused it was cold. It was as if he'd only been pretending to be human. The feeling of a trapped mouse filled Rude again.

"Part of me hoped you wouldnd't cooperate," Kastanakis announced as he went to the door. He rapped twice lightly. It opened and Rude's previous escorts entered. By the time Rude could stand they had him subdued, bound, and were dragging him out into a derelict hallway.

Struggling was pointless with the zip tie around his wrists so Rude waited, praying something of Reno's luck had rubbed off on him. It always had to get grim first. If this wasn't grim enough Rude didn't know what was. He was shoved inside another room, this one much darker and already containing another occupant.

Damien sat in one of the two chairs, his head sagging to one side unconscious. There was the reek of burnt skin and the unique scent of wiring hot with electricity. Damien had always been darker than Rude but he was beaten so savagely that there were blotches of even darker skin across his bared chest and arms. Blood dripped out of his nose, thick and darker than any he'd ever seen before. It looked more like sludge than blood, as if his brother was mechanical and leaking the blackened Mako based lubricants that kept motors running in cars.

The automatic reaction to struggle and hurt the men who'd hurt his brother was quelled swiftly. He was suddenly strapped despite his thrashing to the chair directly across from Damien. Kastanakis put his hand on the back of Damien's chair as he studied the wounded Fenrir.

"Wake him," he instructed after a moment, stepping out of the way as one of the men dumped water over Damien's head. Despite the shock it must have been to his system Damien was slow to respond. His eyes seemed to have forgotten to open until at last they rolled back into place. Lifting his head like it was weighed down he struggled to comprehend his surroundings.

"Welcome back Damien. I hope you found your nap refreshing. I've brought you a friend." Kastanakis motioned over at Rude. Damien's unfocused gaze found his brother and fire immediately sprang into his eyes.

"You sonova..." he started and was suddenly jittering in a seizure. The smell of cooked meat filled the room with nauseating strength. After a few seconds Damien sagged in his chair. Kastanakis pulled back a slender baton connected by a long cable to a rigged outlet in the corner. Rude's muscles fought against his restraints.

"Now you two are together perhaps you can remember where the disk is. You see Damien, your little brother is holding out on me," Kastanakis informed him. "So I thought I would let you pool your resources. Since you've taken your turn I suppose I'll let Darryl here do some of the heavy lifting. You just answer the questions."

Fire ripped through Rude's shoulder as his body convulsed against its will. Every thought was ripped clean out of Rude's head and he didn't know anything but the agony. When it stopped he was left sagging and breathless in his chair, the sensation of a thousand needles pricking every place in his body all that remained.

"Where is the disk?"

"No disk," Damien panted.

This time it was along his ribs. His insides were being cooked, the blood boiling.

"Twice without screaming. How long can he hold out? Give me the names of your contacts in Wutai."

"Semper Fi," Damien seemed to plead.

An explosion rocked Rude's body just where his neck met his shoulder on the left side. When it stopped Rude didn't know if his throat felt like charred hamburger because he had screamed or if it really was charred.

"He has nothing to do with - "

Rude's very essence shrieked as the prod stuck itself just below his navel and was twisted. Colors exploded in his vision as lightning seared the skin and ripped through every nerve.

How long this went on Rude would never be able to remember. All he heard were incoherent sounds, sometimes desperate, sometimes angry. His body was wracked with more pain than a body should ever have needed to register. This was Hell.

"Darryl," he heard. The pain had stopped. He couldn't see. "Darryl." Something was itching beneath his nose, crawling along the skin there with maddening slowness. And why couldn't he see? Ah yes, the leaden things blinding him were his eyelids. "I know you're not much of a conversationalist but this is the one time you might want to speak up."

"Lyn?" Rude asked and found the strength to open his eyes. He lifted his head and saw instead a man clad in Turk blues. He was holding a phone to Rude's ear.

"Atta boy," Lyn smiled on the other end. "You've caused me quite some trouble. I've spent the last four hours being interrogated because a little birdy told him I might have a classified disk of Shin-Ra secrets destined for the Woots. You should know I really hate little birdies." It was all Rude could do to stay conscious and listen. "I was going to let you rot but then I thought maybe there was a reason you dragged my good name into the mud. You have my attention."

"Save Beatrice, clear Damien."

"They're not important to me and as I recall I owe you no favors," Lyn scoffed.

"Me," Rude managed. "You get me."

He felt her consent in a chill that prickled the back of his neck before he heard her speak.

"You should pick up a Wutai phrase book. I forgot to mention it to Red."


	17. Yue Fei

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII character, places, etc.

Chapter 17: Yue Fei

Chocobos were nothing more than overgrown turkies meant to be plucked and stuffed for holiday feasts as far as Reno was concerned. If he never saw another one off a spit he would be perfectly happy. Of course this was not his fate as he faced the bird Kaza in a standoff that would have made the old Cosomo Western Movies proud. Kaza glared back as fiercely as Reno, both of them ready to make a move and waiting for the other's false step.

"Come on you feathery bastard," Reno growled under his breath. They both seemed to crouch low to the ground, ready to spring into action. Kaza moved first, feigning to the left before attempting to dart right. Reno had spent enough time chasing this particular bird over the last few days to recognize its favorite routine.

Knowing what a big yellow chicken was going to do next was only so much of the game. The other half was being able to catch it with the intel. The bird danced around him in a quick evasion and he was reduced to bolting through the woods after it. The further they went the stronger Reno's resolve to build a fire and cook himself a nice meal became.

A narrow stream was an easy leap for Kaza and Reno was quite sure he could clear it too. Instead he caught his foot on a slimy root and went crashing into the rocky stream bed, cutting up his palms and scraping his chin. A series of oaths rambled forth without any particular order or sense of continuity but for their speed as he picked himself up from the ground.

Someone snickered and he went absolutely still mid swear. The snicker-er seemed to realize the snicker-ee had overhead which made for a silence fraut with tension. With his heightened senses he could pick out the sounds of Kaza's own snickering 'wark' as he scrounged about for some tender bamboo shoots or juicy bugs. Apart from that there was only the churn of the brook and the sense that someone else was out in the woods.

"The yellow clown's ahead of me," Reno went back to his grumbling as he tried to settle his heart. He was already seen but his peeping Tom sounded entertained. If he could keep them amused perhaps they would make a mistake and expose themselves.

It took a bit of scrabbling to get out of the stream bed. Slogging forward in his wet shoes as he grumbled about his new scrapes he made for Kaza. The cheerfully colored hell bird was in the middle of chowing down on a colony of squirming insects beneath a fallen log. Reno crouched in the brush trying to affect that his whole attention was on his Chocobo. His eyes flit about the trees but he saw nothing unusually strange in his alien environment.

At this point he wished the Nakamura guards hadn't just pointed him down the road after handing him the reins to his demonic mount. Woots had a unique ability to hide from each other and an amazing ability to rapidly locate each other after disturbances utilizing some internal device. Perhaps they just recognized each other's pheromones. Whatever the reason they moved like wraiths and he found himself grossly inadequate.

Crawling forward with the utmost concern for silence he approached gluttonizing Kaza. Satan's Free Range was completely engrossed. At the last minute Reno sprang up, claimed the reins, and was hanging onto the bucking bird for dear life. With loud "warks" the beast raged, hopping and flapping about as if he'd never had a rider.

"I! Hate! You! Bird! Brain!" he cried in staccato bursts between bucks. As if in retribution Kaza slammed him into a nearby tree trunk, the spongy lichen growing up its rough bark nowhere near enough cushioning to dampen the force. With an angry howl he jerked the bird's reins and returned the favor, cracking its head into the very same trunk. They both were dazed now, panting as Reno slouched in the saddle. Kaza shook off the daze and leveled a gaze at him dripping with promises of future mutiny.

"Salt and pepper bird. Their absence is the only thing that spares you," he threatened with an accusing finger. "Onward, hell steed." His heels snapped into Kaza's sides, spurring him into a sickening run punctured with warbling objection.

In this fashion they jostled through the woods towards the beaches north of the city. Tiger-boss' men had explained that Xíhē's daughter was kept by some of the monks at a temple there. Warrior monks, they'd emphasized.

"Of course," he had nodded at the time. "Because every dungeon has a boss." Their expressions of confusion had left him alone in his appreciation of the impossible situation.

Kaza slowed to a walk at some point which was fine by Reno. It was better for both of them thanks to his abysmal riding skills. As they kept moving he could hear the distant roar of something that seemed to grow louder and softer in turns. He reined Kaza to a halt so he could listen. The bird shifted on its oversized drumsticks – butter, he added to the seasoning list – as Reno cocked his head, trying to decide what the rhythmic noise could be.

Ahead the trees suddenly thinned. He dismounted and crept towards them with his mount in tow. The lacy ferns brushed his arms as damp leaves made muffled squelches against his soggy tennis shoes. He was only vaguely aware his peeping Tom was still observing him curiously.

As the trees cleared up to a white shoreline the vastness of the ocean unfurled in ruffled azure waves cascading against the beach. His shoes sank into sand as a blue sky with a golden sun opened in absolute freedom. Reno stood slack jawed, watching three foot waves curl over, erupt in foam, and crash onto the shore. They kept reaching, as if eager to touch the trees, before fizzling out and sliding back into their home body.

"You ever see the beach Cas?" he whispered, falling to his knees and slouching onto his backside. The journey on the rusted tub was nothing like this picture of paradise, clean sand deserted as far as the eye could see, balmy wind rushing with the tumultuous waves. Its rhythm here on the boundry between land and ocean was like nowhere else. Even the unnerving quiet of the wilderness and the beautiful solemnety of green trees stretching around him seemed commonplace in the face of this awesome sight.

Kaza broke his reverie by clocking the back of his head with his beak. Reno grunted and covered his cranium, scowling back at the bird.

The laughter came again and this time Reno spotted a little girl bent behind some shrubs from the corner of his eye. He patted his pockets and found a bit of sweet grass for Kaza and wished it was poisonous. In another pocket he found a sucker, yanked off the wrapping paper, and held it out sideways without looking at the girl. He heard the sudden intake of her breath followed by a nervous silence.

Kaza satisfied clucks and the unyielding waves were the only sounds for a very long time. Reno wondered if the little girl would be fool enough to accept candy from a stranger. Slums children of Midgar knew better but she might not. Who knew what these sword happy, data destroying, quest sending Woots were about?

Her curiosity won out and she approached, dropping the pretense of her hiding place. Reno was careful not to look at her lest she be intimidated by the alien glow of his Mako treated eyes. She took the candy between her thumb and forefinger, twirling the stem and studying the cherry colored sucker.

"You eat it," he instructed, finding another and popping it into his mouth as demonstration. He was careful not to look at her still. She sat out of reach and cautiously touched the sweet with a little pink tongue.

Her eyes grew wide as they lit on him with awe. She secured her prize behind her teeth, the white stick clamped between them, and cooed noises of appreciation much as Kaza did behind him. Reno couldn't help looking at her, his gaze sliding sideways as he tried not to laugh. She was still watching him with enormous eyes dwarfing her little nose and chin. A charicature of innocence she mimed the way he turned the lolipop stick back and forth between his thumb and forefinger.

She crab walked closer to him so she could squint up into his eyes. One dirty finger extended to hover just below the sleepless hollows beneath them. When he blinked his eyelashes tickled her fingertip.

"Ma-ko," she said softly retracting her hand. A quiet stream of incomprehensible words issued from her as she frowned slightly. Tapping her eyes she repeated what perhaps was a question. Reno shrugged, spinning the lollipop between his teeth.

"Trouble," he answered after a moment, tapping the corner of his eye. "What are you, five? Where are your parents?" he prompted as something tickled the back of his mind. Her head cocked to one side at the strangeness of his words. She timidly reached out and tugged on his red hair, rubbing the longish tail gathered at the nape of his neck curiously. She checked her fingers as if anticipating a red stain.

Kaza thwacked the back of his head again. Reno leaped up with a curse, jerking the reins. The little girl snickered. She reached up to stroke the Chocobo's underbelly, running the backs of her fingers along the wide feathers. Clucking words at the yellow bird she took one rein. Immediately Kaza was under control. Tugging him along she waved for Reno to follow her down onto the beach.

"Stupid chicken," Reno complained, stuffing his hands in his pockets and following because he didn't know what else to do. Idly he considered a trap but the girl was five. If these were the slums he would be more prone to believe in duplicity but the girl just trotted along talking to Kaza. The chocobo seemed to listen affectionately, watching the girl with what could almost be called tenderness.

"Ma-ko-chan!" she chanted looking back at him. As she machine gunned words at him she brandished her succor, indicating a ramshackle temple huddled amidst the pale tree trunks. He faltered.

"Warrior Monks," he repeated aloud. His eyes dropped back to the girl and he realized why she seemed familiar. Xíhē's face in minature, the same pixie features and enormous eyes. All she needed was her own little horned demon mask and the girl could have been a perfect duplication.

Reno weighed his options. The electrified night stick and Hirono's wakizashi were still in his keeping they'd be negligiable assistance against highly disciplined warrior monks. He scanned the battle goddess' miniature for a pearl – assuming it wasn't a metaphor – and saw nothing but a little yellow robe meant for beach going.

"Mako-chan? Nani-ka?" she prompted coming back to his side. Could he play the lost card? He was obviously from Midgar and he highly doubted there were non combatants left this side of the lines. Especially none with electrified night sticks and wakizashi from Yakuza princesses.

"If I die now I can't buy a nice condo on the plates and hook Rude up with something decent," he sighed down at her. She stared at him. "Does that mean anything to you little fire baby?" She held out her hand, palm up.

"Daijobu Mako-chan. Daijobu desu," she encouraged. He capitulated. Her cold fingers curled around his comparably massive palm. She spotted the pink scar that disappeared beneath his long sleeve. Her other hand still wrapped around Kaza's reins she uncurled one finger to trace it, eyes flashing up at him. "Itai, itai, itai," she made a face, shaking her head as if to disagree with it. Giving it a kiss she smiled up at him. "Genki desu! Genki desu Mako-chan!"

"Yes, thank you," he smiled as his heart ached for Cassie anew. "Thank you it feels better." A grin cleaved her face in two. Chirping a command she dragged him along after her. Reno came willingly, trying to imagine how many warrior monks would be waiting to ambush him. Seven? Ten? Thirty? How many would be guarding a true princess?

The girl tied Kaza to the veranda and then stumped up the old wood with Reno in tow. He took a breath and flinched as they burst through the door. She crowed something, hands on her hips and looked back at him. As his eyes adjusted he realized the floor was covered in dead leaves and piles of dirt, the wood filled with a damp smell and a decaying carving of a warrior in strange armor rotting in the center of the back wall. The air was perfumed with something ancient.

"Where are your bodyguards dummy?" he demanded as he put his hands on his hips like a disappointed parent. "You don't just take strange men back with you to your hide away. Didn't your parents teach you better?"

She beckoned him in and flung her hands up at the decrepit statue. Scatered at its feet was a pile of glimmering trinkets. Jewelry fashioned out of stones he'd never seen before winked on rings, hair pins, necklaces, embroidered sashes and shining baubles. He squatted and looked at all of it, coins scattered about. This was a King's ransom right here sitting unguarded.

"What the hell?" he looked at her and realized she was now sprinkling the pile with his stash of succors. He frisked himself and realzied her light fingers had made off with them somehow. "Shit. You're even better than me you royal brat," he smirked. She flinched and looked guiltily at him. Giving him a red toothed smile – the sweet had left a temporary stain – she offered to return a blue berry one. He laughed and accepted it. "Ah, thank you. You're very generous." Putting it in his pocket he wondered how long before she stole it again.

"Yue Fei desu," she patted her chest. "Mako-chan," she touched his chest. "Yue Fei."

"You-ee Faye," he repeated. She wrinkled her nose at his pronunciation. "Fine. You-eh Faye," he corrected himself as best he could. The skin on her nose smoothed as she deemed it acceptable.

"Mako-chan!" she beckoned him towarads the back of the room. He followed her, glancing back to be certain no one else had arrived in search of Yue Fei. When he looked to his little guide again she was hopping excitedly around a splintered board with a hole just wide enough to slip his plam through. She yipped and pointed like a miniature dog.

He got onto his knees and peeked down into a murky tunnel, damp air sweeping up towards them. Outside the ocean was still crashing and the sun was high in the sky, Kaza shifting, but a strange sensation ran up his spine. Yue Fei squatted and pointed down below, talking to him as she cupped her hands with a look of genuine distress. She tugged on his sleeve imploringly.

He wedged his fingers on the floorboards, nevermind the splinters, and peeled them back with wet cracks. The rotted wood came away with little enough reisistance although his callused fingers bristled with slivers. Below was a passage tall enough for him to stand. Yue Fei slipped down to the ground in a graceless thump. She peered up at him expectantly. The slums kid in him said he should take her stash and run. It would be hours before – if – anyone found her.

Instead he dropped down next to her. The path cut back into the woods, lit by breaks in the ground mostly covered by roots. Shafts of light hit dusty cobwebs and animal tracks. Yue Fei squatted and touched a particular track, following it with her eyes. A little knife flashed out of her sash, the cheerful yellow of her robe seeming garrish in the dark despite the grass stains and crusted salt of play.

"Yosh," she burred softly, eyes fixed intently ahead. She crept forward until he caught her by the scruff of her neck. His instincts insisted something dangerous lurked here. Drawing the nightstick he left the charge off and took the lead. Yue Fei kept at his heels, her eyes bright with Xíhē's concentration.

They'd gone almost half a mile before Reno came to an abrupt halt at the sound of labored breathing. He stood straining his eyes into the dark spot ahead, seeing something shifting. A faint glimmer caught his eye as the body moved, the breathing erratic.

Yue Fei exclaimed something leaping forward, making a slash at the beast as she reached for the light. Reno jerked her back with a curse as the beast shifted, moving towards them on all fours with a bestial snarl. As it came into a shaft of light Reno recognized the glimmer of Mako treatment in its human eyes.

"Ah shit," he complained, snapping the electricity on in his nightstick.


	18. Sleight of Hand

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII character, places, etc.

Chapter 18: Sleight of Hand

The sky and the sea. Reno wasn't sure how to differentiate them as he sailed through the air breathlessly after his chest had seemingly been compacted by a single well placed blow to the sternum. Ah, there it was he realized as he tipped in flight so he could see the shoreline and the grassy roof of the decrepit temple. He crashed through said roof to land in a heap of timbers and mildewed thatch, wheezing as his lungs tried to obtain precious oxygen. The humming baton cracked into the floor beside him.

"Aw God," he rasped, taking the handle and dragging himself to his feet. Yue Fei was still down in the tunnel, never mind his uncouth ejection. Coughing his lungs suddenly popped open, heaving breaths of sweet, salty air. Staggering like a drunk he dropped back into the hole. "Yue – !"

There she went. She streaked past him in pale faced fright, arms pumping. His relief was quickly replaced with frustration as he realized the beast was on her heels.

"Oh no you don't!" he commanded hurtling the electrified baton at it. It landed with a 'thwack' in the middle of the Mako twisted monstrosity's face. Spasoming with the current it was momentarily stalled. The wakizashi hissed loose and he cut a gouge across the monster's face. This pain seemed to free it from its stupor. Reno ducked a grasping hand, caught the baton, and thrust it towards the disfigured creature's chest.

Instead all he saw was sunlight and raining dirt. The shudder of ground translated as it galloping towards the temple. With surprising zeal he grasped a scraggly root and dragged himself out after it. Following in the wake of its broken trees he caught up just as Yue Fei was emerging from their improvised hole and the monster had closed on her. Glimmering in one of her hands was the knife, the other fisted around what could only be described as a luminous pearl.

"That's mine!" he insisted, throwing himself onto the monster's back. It reared up onto two legs, the grotesque muscling deforming it into a misshapen approximation of human anatomy. Taking hold of both horns he jerked its head around. Staggering and crashing into mouldering pillars swaths of roof came down on them.

"Run!" Reno exclaimed desperately as his ankle twisted painfully against another broken support beam. Claws curled around his arm and yanked him over onto the floor. He swung the baton only to have it knocked from him. Yue Fei shriekd and imbedded her little knife in a fleshy haunch, shrill voice protesting his rough treatment. The beast knocked her away as if she were a flea but she got up gamely, making for the knife and twisting it. In the mean time Reno made another slash with the wakizashi, tearing an angry red line through its chest.

He scrambled to his feet, tucked Yue Fei under his arm, and bolted. Freed of the collapsing temple he cut Kaza free on the way past and threw Yue Fei onto his saddle.

"Go!" he put the remains of the reins in her hands and slapped Kaza's backside. The creature burst free bellowing in anger. Kaza squawked loudly as he bolted.

"Mako-chaaaaaan!" Yue Fei shrilled, reaching back as if she could catch his hand. Reno backed up wishing he hadn't lost the baton. Instead Hirono's wakizashi hung in one hand as an ache spread through his chest from the earlier blow.

"I am swearing off women," he vowed. "Women are terrible." The creature unleashed a yellow fanged scream, flecks of rancid syliva showering him. "Ah, mack, no worries for you yo. They won't come near you if you swear off the sparklies," he wheezed. All towering ten feet came snarling towards him, the greyish skin particularly sickly in full sunlight, limp hair clumped with twigs and decaying foilage. The mako glow of its maddened eyes fixed on him, the pair circling like wolves.

It lunged and he responded in kind. He slid beneath a reaching claw and snapped the long knife up. It caught in the neck flesh, maybe bone, but the force of the creature's momentum carried the edge through as Reno hung on for dear life. Crashing to the ground in a shuddering heap the monster's chest heaved as Reno lay at its side. Half dragged there with both hands on the hilt he waited to see if it would move. Instead the sand soaked up red blood. Three gasping breaths later the monstrosity was still.

Standing up he examined his kill. It seemed impossible that it had once been human but the faint glow of Mako in its eyes seemed a harsh truth. After his stay in Hojo's labs he wouldn't put it past the mad man to botch some experiment and set it loose. But where had it come from and what had brought it here?

"Mako-chan!" Yue Fei's voice came. Nervous Kaza was obeying her directional commands but only just barely. His eyes were wide with true fear.

"What's the matter Kaza? Look like your former master Satan?" he huffed, appreciating the bird's discomfort.

"Mako-chan! Daijobu-ka? Daijobu-ka Mako-chan?" Yue Fei demanded, tears on her dirty face. She flung herself from the Chocobo and checked him, worried by the bruises already blooming on his cheeks and neck. He bent into her reaching hands as she hugged him spilling words as freely as she shed tears.

"You shouldn't play in such dangerous places," Reno chastised. With a grunt he picked her up and carried her towards the ruined temple. "Lets get your goodies and go," he advised. Yue Fei wouldnd't let him go until they'd stalked all the way to her makeshift alter.

He helped her gather the treasure, bundling it in cloth so smooth his rough fingers kept catching in it. It moved like water in his hands and was dyed such vibrant shades he was almost sure he'd never seen in color before. Kaza accepted his burdens, nervous around the stinking cadaver. Reno slung Yue Fei onto the saddle and looked up at her expectantly.

"Where to?" he asked. Her hands were curled around the fist sized pearl, worrying it. He thought about snatching it, throwing the troublesome brat onto the ground, and riding off to Tiger-boss.

"Sheenu-Raaa ka?" she looked at him. The familiar word surprised him coming from her little tongue. "Anata wa Sheenu-Raa ka?"

"Shin-Ra," he nodded pointing at himself. She rubbed the pearl anxiously, her eyes flicking from him to the beast.

"Sheenu-Raa ka?" she pointed to the unmoving mass. He shrugged in genuine ignorance. As she struggled over some internal dialogue he checked to ensure his baton was back in place, Hirono's wakizashi sheathed, and collected Yue Fei's dagger. Cleaning it on his pant leg he handed it back to her. She accepted the hilt and watched his smile. She pointed mutely down the beach and he took Kaza's reins to lead where she directed. Suitably cowed Kaza followed with no complaints.

Yue Fei was silent along the way. Reno studied the waves to one side and the trees to the other, thinking about how he could get the pearl without causing the little princess grief. The pearl was his ultimate goal and he'd pry it from her fingers if he had to but leaving on friendly terms would be good. He figured there was a little time yet before they encountered these warrior monks. And just where were they in little Yue Fei's hour of need?

It was approaching dusk when Reno spotted lanterns in the distance. They glowed red at the great enterance of an elaborate temple rising in three sotires of curled roofs. A vast complex with a veranda circling it Reno could hear monks calling Yue Fei's name in the fading light. She heard their summons as Reno came to a halt. They looked at each other in the twilight, each trying to decide how to convey their words.

Yue Fei slipped off Kaza's back with a hand raised to stop him. She muttered something, shaking her head insistently. He unslung the saddle bags laden with precious parcels, hanging it on her small shoulders. Draped in her overwhelmingly heavy riches her knuckles went white around the pearl. At length she looked back up and beckoned him closer.

Reno knelt so they could be roughly even. Her words were breathy as she spoke transfixed by the faint aura of his eyes. Reno listened without comprehension before she thrust the pearl into his chest. He looked down shocked. With disbelief he cupped his hands beneath hers. She shut her eyes, looked away, and released the precious gem. Tears rimmed her lashes as she parted with the beloved keepsake. Reno recalled that it had been a gift from her mother. He wondered what it was like to have something dear from someone he loved. All he had left were legacies of death.

"Thank you, Yue Fei," he said honestly. Yue Fei looked at him in a mixture of frustration and affection. Somewhere nearby someone barked her name making them jump. She motioned him away urgently, flapping her hands. Reno secured the pearl and hopped onto Kaza's back.

"Mako-chan!" Yue Fei hissed as loudly as she dared. She scrambled up his leg and gave him one last tight embrace. Departing just as suddenly Reno was left watching the trembling ferns where she had vanished.

"Yuffie!" a man shouted. Yue Fei's voice answered in a barrage of frustrations, as if annoyed at being called back from play. Reno spurred Kaza onward wondering at the way her name got slurred together.

"Yuffie," he repeated with a little frown. He reached for his pocket in search of another succor to mollify the cravings for a cigarette. The blueberry Yue Fei had returned was missing. Looking back over his shoulder he spotted the white and blue wrapper lying where the little princess had stood. "Dammit," he grumbled, checking that the pearl was still in his possession. "Dammit!" he almost shouted.


	19. Valuable

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 19: Valuable

There would be scars for the rest of his life. They weren't the ugly burn marks glaring back at the mirror as he obscured them button by button. He fussed with the starched collar, turning it down meticulously before lifting the tie from where it hung on a sumptuous leather chair beside him. The window beyond it was closed but a sliver of neon pink and yellow light cut a sharp slant through the room splashing against his chest.

These clothes were nice. They set him apart from anyone else in the slums, changed his outward appearance and commanded respect from his muscled height and the dark glasses obscuring the faint glow of his Mako eyes. He smoothed an imaginary crease from his shoulder and looked back to the tie. He had no idea how to make a neat knot.

It took another five minutes to tuck his shirt in just so, set the polished belt buckle in place, and tie up his smart black shoes. Donning the navy blue jacket he took another look and was satisfied. He tucked the sunglasses into his breast pocket, glanced around at the elegant, masculine room for any other personal affects – just a thin wood box – and walked out the door with the tie.

He came around the side of the bar into the lounge where most of the Turks gathered for both work and pleasure. It was empty but for the bar tender slicing citrus and the bulky man that had appeared to save him from Kastanakis' interrogation room. A broad sword leaned against the counter next to him, sheathed in silver patterns with a glittering green stone of some sort set in the pommel.

Rude pulled back a stool and sat on the other side of the sword. He doubted it would make much of a difference but it made him more comfortable opposite the edge that had decapitated Kastanakis on the spot with a few words from Lyn. The Turks had no rules beyond allegience to the Shin-Ra it seemed. He wondered if it actually was safer as one of their number.

"ID," the Turk by the name of Miguel slid the shiny plastic towards him. The thick rimmed glasses seemed out of place with the backdrop of Miguel's towering height and wide shoulders. He filled out his suit like a line backer. "It is your gateway to all manner of things. Everything from a good meal to accessing restricted areas. Yours is limited at the moment but as your rank increases so do the powers of that card. Lose it and Lyn will do things to you that you cannot imagine." His accent marked him as originally from Costa del Sol.

Rude slid the ID into his coat pocket with the sun glasses. Miguel leaned back and dug in another pocket. He extracted a small folded envelope smeared with food and ink stains. Passing it along Rude noted that the seal was unbroken, Darryl scrawled in barely legible chicken scratch across the front twice, once struck through for improper spelling. Candace no doubt had corrected his mother's mistake.

Standing and crossing to the other side of the room he tore open the envelope to expose two things: a note written on the back of a night club flyer and the very last of his mother's keepsakes, a ring set with a small yellow stone. He closed his hand around the precious thing, worthless at the pawn shops and all the more precious since Celia Rude could keep it in memory of her own mother.

"You will never stop being my son or brother to your siblings."

His throat tightened as he slid the little thing onto his pinky. He read the note two more times until the simple sentence branded his psyche. Then he returned to Miguel and threw the note away.

"Lyn wants you on the first boat to Wutai. That is four hours from now. Is there something you wish to do?" Rude shook his head in answer to Miguel's inquiry. The man sucked on his cheek and narrowed his eyes at the new recruit. "I do not like when they talk, the new recruits, but you are too quiet. Come then silent man. Worse than a language barrier," Miguel grumbled, slinging his broad sword over a shoulder and sauntering out of the bar. Rude got to his feet and followed into the sleek black car waiting on crowded Wall Street.

"Ugly city, Midgar," Miguel complained from the other end of the seat as they eased through rutted streets and pot holes, pedestrians keeping a wide berth. "A sore really, these people below. It is good the plates cover them. They are ugly and useless."

Rude listened passively. Miguel could ramble as he liked. From what Rude knew Costa del Sol was a paradise of sparkling beaches and beautiful people. It was also rumored as the skin trade capitol of the world. More trafficked girls passed through that city than anywhere else, at least according to fathers that had moved their families to the Midgar slums to _protect_ their daughters. Ironic really.

Miguel pontificated further on the value of the working class presumably to fluster Rude. He let it pass as he bid farewell the junkyards that hadn't been home since Cassie and Reno had left him. His boyhood memories seemed a lifetime ago. The rusted scrap yards and shanty towns had seemed comfortable in those times. Now they were little more than a grave marker for a boyhood lost. And a boy he was no longer.

They came to the trains that had brought Damien home in some other existence. Boarding with their ID cards they took seats. This was his first ride Rude reflected. Hell, he could count his number of car rides on one hand. Spreading his palms on his knees he sat ramrod straight, keen to soak in every detail.

The whole train groaned as it lurched forward, rocking him to one side. Miguel leaned back next to him, bored by the whole process. Then they began moving in labored chugs at first before momentum gathered. The metal body fell into a swaying rhythm, loud "cla-clacks" puncturing the sway in a steady secondary pulse. Rude could hardly hear his own thoughts over the rickety contraption's noise. Nobody else seemed perturbed by the sheer racket.

"First time to the plates?" warbled a little voice to his right. Rude looked over and spotted a watery eyed old man creasing his face in an amiable smile. "Look there, out that way and you can see the sun here in a minute. I don't think much of it myself but I understand some of you young fellas have never seen it. Imagine, a whole generation of boys off to fight for the homeland and ain't never stood under the skies that smile down on our Midgar." His gnarled thumb jerked back over their shoulder. Rude twisted in his seat, heart beating fast. He had seen the sun before in his childhood, just on the farthest frontiers of his memory.

Those hazy depictions did it no justice. Golden light burst through suddenly as they cleared the walls of Midgar's slums spiraling up towards the plates. The searing yellow disk greeted him jubilantly as the sun set, lighting up the skies in a rosy blush and tickling pink into great clouds.

"That a tie there in your hand?" the old man snagged the bit of cloth after the sun had vanished beneath the plates again as they spiraled further upward. "Here son, let me get you set right. Can't be in your Turk blues without your tie on right. Those Shin-Ra can be downright fussy," he chuckled as if it were a joke, perfectly content with Rude's taciturn company.

"My grandson's a Fenrir you know," he continued as he popped Rude's carefully laid collar up. "Spot on in his uniform that boy. Handsome dog like his daddy and grandaddy before him. I'm sure them Woot girls love him. He wrote home just the other day you know, got his letter here in me pocket." His hand thumped against his breast pocket and he faltered, his eyes sliding to the floor. After a moment's hesitation he fluttered back to the tie.

"So its like this boy. Watch now, learn something good from your elders before we're beyond teaching," he insisted, showing him painstakingly how to get a good knot. With a little tug he had it neatly up around Rude's neck. "There. A fine face you are son. I think you'll do, yes, I reckon so."

The old man turned down Rude's collar again and then zipped up the jacket, burshing imaginary lint of the shoulder. He looked Rude over critically, nodding and humming to himself before turning forward in his seat again, gnarled hands clenched on his knees.

"You give 'em Hell out there you hear me?" he said suddenly, eyes bright. "You give 'em Hell. Be strong boy so they don't...and you keep writing letters home now. It means a lot to us who can't do our bit any more you know? It really does. Truly, it really does."

"Yes sir," Rude answered watching the old man touch the pocket with the letter again. "Thank you for the lesson."

"Ah! You're welcome, you're welcome!" His face fell into a thousand folds of happiness. Then he stood up and shuffled off the train once it had lurched to a stop, waving to Rude until the metal leviathan carted him away.

"I do not understand Lyn in this. You have too much blood left in your heart for these things in the life of a Turk," Miguel squinted critically.

"Could have been an opportunity," Rude shrugged. Miguel's face looked annoyed at the cryptic reply. Clearly he was all brute force to have missed the vulnerability all over a grandparent longing for a grandson he knew wouldn't come back from the war. Rude hoped for Miguel's long term benefit that his brawn was worth the sacrifice of his brain.

They were silent through the monoliths of glass and steel, soaring towers of prosperity and wealth. Rude was hardly interested, more fascinated by the vastness of the plains spreading in all directions from Midgar. The sky touched the horizon in boundless shades of blue growing ever deeper as the red sun sank.

When it came their turn they disembarked and entered another car which sped them along streets lined with boutiques and well dressed pedestrians. They were buffed, waxed, and polished until they glowed as much as the buildings. All this flashed by him until they came to a wide open platform where a strange contraption was humming. Something circled over the bulbous steel body with its long tail and the poles that kept its belly from resting on the ground.

"Helicopter!" Miguel shouted over the noise as they emerged into a gail. Rude squinted against the onslaught of dust kicked up by this 'helicopter'. Attendants in stained suits something akin to Reno's old grease monkey uniform hurried up to them and passed out what looked like enormous headphones. Rude put his on and immediately the noise was dampened.

"Can you hear me in there?" Miguel prompted from the headphones. Rude nodded. "Good. This bird leaves in five so we can rendezvous with the ship. Use the bathroom now or wait for the boat. First rule of being a Turk, never let any chance slip by." The dark skinned man hurried away to do just this. Rude instead made for the edge of the platform, the wooden box about the width of his palm and almost as long as his forearm resting in both hands. It was only three inches deep.

He was glad for the railing between himself and a sheer plunge back to the ground. Involuntarily he thought of Newt tumbling down a similar height while he and Reno clung to the underside of a bridge in a desperate escape. The memory passed when Newt's phantom had become too small to distinguish from this height.

Unlatching the wooden box he stood with it still shut, staring at the grains intensely. The helicopter pushed the wind against his back so it flowed out and away from the lip of the plate. He wondered briefly which sector was toiling away beneath his feet and then if the plate residents ever stopped to consider what went on down there.

Opening the container the ashes inside – surprisingly pale and flakey – were immediately spirited away in a thin stream that vanished in less than a few seconds. He stood staring at the invisible place where they had become too scattered to see.

Damien had died laboriously in the bed next to him choking on his own blood. Unable to even move Rude could only watch as the doctors tried to keep him alive until finally, mercifully, pronouncing him dead. Now that his ashes were scattered it struck home. Damien was gone.

Rude's knuckles went white around the empty box. That he'd even been given the ashes made him grateful to Lyn. Usually a poor boy from the slums would just be chucked into one of the mass graves dug out each day, a service provided by the sector to prevent disease. Nobody had the money for headstones or the price of proper cremation. Here at least he got to free his brother of his earthly confines with his own two hands, to settle it as much as he ever would since Miguel had already seen to Kastanakis of the Fenrir Investigations Unit.

As to Beatrice?

"It is time to go now. Let us go," Miguel interrupted his thoughts. Rude jerked out of his thoughts and pinched the fleshy part of his hand below the thumb as he snapped the lid shut. Not knowing what else to do with it he held it over the edge and dropped it. He watched its rapid descent, flipping in the wind. When he couldn't see it any more against they yellow brown color of the plains he made for the helicopter. Ducking involuntarily beneath the whirring disk at the top he climbed in beside Miguel. The man from Costa del Sol glanced at Rude's empty hands but ventured no comment.

"Strap in or you may just fall out."

Rude buckled into the shoulder harness like Miguel did. The amount of buckles and straps made him nervous. He'd never been in anything that might throw him out like a wild Chocobo in a Cosomo Western.

A door along the helicopter's side was closed and the wind finally abated. It still made a terrible amount of noise despite the headphones. Rude fixed his eyes on a little window and wondered what it was going to be like flying in this strange contraption.

His stomach did a backflip as the machine lurched. A dizzy disoreintation took him when the cityscape began to scale down, rocketing away from them. Rude gripped the harness with both hands, sweat streaming along his ribs as his heart threatened to fly the coop. Every thought left him so his head was nothing but a hollow temple for his thunderous pulse and the blood rining in his ears.

"There's a call," announced an unfamiliar voice.

"Put it through," Miguel instructed.

"Its for the rookie," the other voice amended. Miguel reached over and filcked something on Rude's head set before giving the pilot a thumbs up.

"Mr. Rude?" inquired a familiar voice. A furrow appeared in Rude's sweaty forehead as he tried to recall who that voice belonged to. "Its me, Dr. Adams."

"Beatrice?" he prompted recalling the morbidly obeise trauma doctor.

"Well, good and bad. She's going to live, that is she's come round," Dr. Adams explained. For some reason the tension in Rude's chest got worse. "Are you still there Mr. Rude? Hello?"

"But?" was all Rude could manage to ask.

"Well, she's conscious and she can move, but she's, well, the gentlest way I can put it is she's been rendered simple."

"Meaning?" Rude almost snapped.

"Meaning her mind's been damaged. She'll never function totally on her own again. She can't speak very well and her motor skills are rough, like she'll lose her balance, and she's fallen into trances from which she won't emerge for minutes at a time. I'd like to keep her for further observations. I understand your parents live below in the sectors? I can't in good conscience release her there without some idea of how best to adapt to her needs. I know somewhere she could be well cared for."

Rude clenched his teeth so hard his jaw began to ache. Dr. Adams might have worked up on the plates but he reeked of Wall Street filth.

"Where?"

"The facility is located up here on the plates. Its run by an old colleague of mine named Maurice Velden. He specializes in head trauma, does great work. His services however come with a price. Its one hundred thousand a year, non negotiable."

Rude closed his eyes behind their sunglasses as he tried to subdue the overwhelming sense of hopelessness. He pictured Beatrice's face delighting in ham and felt the loss knife through him. She was alive but things would be different forever. Everything was all wrong.

"Mr. Rude?"

"Watch her. I will make a decision shortly," Rude answered, not keen on trusting this Maurice Veld who wanted a hundred thousand a year for his treatment. For all Rude knew she'd wind up locked in a dirty cell eating gruel or subjected to strange experiments as so often happened to unfortunate souls in the slums. Simple or not Beatrice Rude would have the very best life he could offer her.

Because he didn't know how to hang up Rude simply removed the headphones so the deafening 'thock thock thock' of the chopper could drown out everything. The horizon was rapidly disappearing into the sky as night descended with unusual darkness.

Miguel rolled his eyes and fussed with the headset. When he was instructed Rude replaced them and looked at his present mentor.

"Good news?"

"Do we get hazard pay?"

Miguel laughed, his voice tinny over the crackling communications link.

"Now I see what it is. You are one of those who has a personal crusade. This is why Lyn chose you." Something in the way it was said didn't sit quite right. Rude's expression betrayed nothing but it unnerved him to think Lyn's fangs had already worked so deeply into him. "The more valuable you become the better you are paid."

_'Easy enough'_ he imagined would have been Reno's reply. Easy was the wrong word perhaps but Rude understood the simple fact that he would make himself valuable.


	20. Attempted Treaties

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 20: Attempted Treaties

It took honest work not to fly over the walls shrieking like a mad man to throttle Yue Fei. Instead he'd gone halfway back to the old temple, tethered Kaza, and by the time he'd returned he was barely calm enough not to throw caution to the wind. On the bright side it was finally dark enough to lurk about the stone walls.

If Reno's vocabulary had been up to snuff 'impregnable' would have been his selected term. If he'd actually been worried about more than just accomplishing his assigned task he might have taken the time to at least label the temple 'fucking difficult' but the only thing he was paying any attention to was the water that seemed to darin out into the turbulent surf on the far side. His eyes flicked towards the unruly ocean.

"Swimming can't be that hard," he resolved back tracking. He didn't have to go too far before he felt he could cut across the beach. The brute strength of the waves and the briney wind suddenly assaulted him full force. Nature was still a new sensation. The undertow sucking at his ankles startled him. He jumped back out of the foaming water convinced hands had wrapped around his legs trying to pull him away. What did they say about the ocean again he wondered?

He looked back at the walled off temple strewn with sultry red lanterns beckoning to him like firelight. Inside was his prize, the pearl he'd killed a _monster_ to get and some _brat_ had lifted from him like he was a plush tourist on Wall Street.

Resolved he waded out into the waves. He stopped once they crashed in a rush at about his hips, the galloping foam hitting him with almost enough force to knock him back. Then came the undertow, pulling with lustful thoughts of possession. The moon looked on, a little bigger than he remembered a few nights back. It cast out silvery beams that threw his shadow onto the ruffled water's surface, contrasting the white foam with the black back of the water.

Reno slogged along, crouching the closer he came to the temple. His teeth chattered as the wind cut through his wet clothes. It drove chill fingers down his scalp and any water that struck his eyes burned. When it landed on his tongue he tasted salt, just like the stories said.

His foot slipped and the undertow caught him. Reno was sucked under the water choking. Dragged along a sharp bottom he was suddenly flipped back up on a boiling wave just curling toward the shore. Helpless and gasping he was swept along, thrown hard against the ground, and dragged backwards. Struggling for purchase he was submerged only to be regurgitated repeatedly.

This cycle knocked him around, flaying his hands and knees. Each time he surfaced he had a little less fight, couldn't get quite as much air, found his muscles harder to move in the cold water as the shore grew more distant. He was certain he was lost when suddenly his shoulder cracked against something hard and rough. Automatically his fingers latched in the porous, slimy rock. Desperation steeled his nerves against the strange texture.

He panted as water crashed over him in booms. It was battering but he held fast, eye screwed shut againt the burn of salt. The cold set in, gnawing at his body as it had never quite done before in the slums. Shuddering he curled up against the frothing waves and hounding wind.

At some point he realized he was damp instead of wet and a deep ache ran through his joints. Forcing his salt crusted eyes open he couldn't see any waves. Their sonorous crashes had faded somewhere behind him. Encouraged now he sat up despite the creaks in his bones, looking back towards the receded shore line.

"Not my best plan," he groaned clambering to the edge of eight feet of slimy wall upon which he'd fortuitously beached himself. It took some work but he made his way down onto the groud strewn in tendrils of plant life. Amazingly as he thought to check it his weapons were still present. He limped along, water logged sneakers squelching along the compacted stone and sand of the unveiled beach.

The shore was suddenly teeming with life. Reno was startled by the swooping creatures with their harsh cries dive bombing scuttling shadows crouched on the sand. The whole beach was moving, little legs whispering like rain as some mass exodus ensued. As they landed Reno realized the swooping creatures were birds of some sort, white with black tipped wings.

The temple loomed ahead in the moonlight. Limping along he made for a channel cut into the ocean bed from the little stream. The moon made him a crisp shadow on the open ground. Still resolved depite his diminished state and the near brush with death Reno dropped the foot or so into frigid water. He almost cried out, biting a knuckle as ice swept through him. Cringing he dropped to his knees and then onto his hands so he could crawl in the shadows of one bank.

In no time flat he was numb. Working his way up the glacial stream he moved even slower as the red glowing lanterns reached him. There was a Monk seated near the front entrance with his legs crossed and eyes closed.

_'Asleep the whole time?'_ Reno groaned internally thinking how much trouble he might have saved.

Someone called from inside and the monk didn't start awake, merely opened his eyes to look back over his shoulder. His voice didn't crack with sleep or sound disoriented. Reno moved by as quickly as he dared without making noise above the soft gurgling stream. He passed beneath the veranda and moved along the side of the temple.

There was no place it let in. Just as he was beginning to despair in the near perfect dark under the place he felt the pull on his clothing of a different current joining the stream. Particularly sensitive to currents after his recent fiasco he moved along and realized a grate was settled against a recess in the temple's stone wall. Gripping at it with his sluggish fingers he felt the jagged weak spot at the base where other stones had collapsed from their original place in the wall.

Reno pulled his sodden goggles into place over his eyes this time, took a breath, and sank under the water. Pulling himelf under the grate he felt it cut his hip and catch on the weapons. It was a few panicky seconds before he was properly free, everything all together but for his cut, and dragged himself against the tunnel searching deperately for the surface.

Relief came just as the last vestiges of his strength were capitulating to the burn of his lungs. He spotted red light and scrambled. Breaking the surface he gagged, panting as quietly as he could. Shivering violently, vision swirling and chest heaving, he rested against the side wall of wherever he was. Whatever happened he was _not_ going back out that way.

As it turned out he was shivering in the middle of an artful water garden he might have better appreciated on a tour. For now he called it a lucky break as he peered over the rocky lip of one end. The grounds were empty this late, neatly kept with strange stone carvings with their own little roofs. He crept about in the water until he found a place near a boulder and strangely twisted tree to emerge out of sight of the temple proper. Pulling off his sodden jacket he folded it and then removed his squelching shoes and socks, keenly aware of the noisy trail he'd be leaving. He wrung out his pant legs and hair as best he could, pulling off the mangled shirt so he could squeeze water out of it.

Shivering made all of this difficult but the worst of it abated after several moments. He surveyed the raw abraisons on his arms, shins, palms, shoulders, back and chin and the cut leaking along his hip. There was nothing to be done just yet. Instead he rolled up his pant legs, did a quick check to see if anyone was around, and then scurried across the tended yard keeping to the shadows.

Three floors just told him from experience at the arcade that Yue Fei would be on the top one well guarded. Reno crept in through an open window, dropping into an unoccupied room of spartan décor. The only thing he truly cared about was its emptiness. Testing the floor he went about in search of a door, moving along the delicate wall of thin wood and rice paper. Did people just use windows here?

The wall slid to one side exposing a rotund Monk with a pleasant face. Reno remained frozen in a corner as the Monk entered, crossed the room, opened a wooden panel in the wall and retrieved a jug of something. He was humming something under his breath as he closed it cradling the precious jug and departing via the sliding paper walls. When Reno's heart started beating again he gave himself a mental slap. Hirono's house had worked the very same way.

The crack he made in the sliding door exposed a vast room with paper doors walls encircling it. In the middle, burnished gold by firelight, was what looked like a metal knot. It was the base of a statue he knew but he couldn't see the top as it rose above his vision beneath the ceiling supporting the second floor. The statue was not the important part.

Kneeling at its base was a host of blue robed Monks and at their forefront were Yue Fei and her mother Xíhē. The steady sounds of chanting could be heard as they paid homage to the statue. Reno tried to remember what he could about Wutai religion but his only exposure to it was crusty old Sasuke who was at least irreverant when he spoke about his homeland. Reno wished he'd paid better attention during one of the old man's tirades late at night.

He watched and waited as their ceremony progressed entirely uncertain how to proceed. Yue Fei still had the damn pearl, of that he was certain. He would just have to wait for a moment when she was left alone. For the time being he listened to the drone of chanting and smelled the spidery smoke curling from embers on strange sticks gathered everywhere. Even in this exotic setting it was boring watching people pray. Cassie had insisted on saying prayers when he was small, folding his hands just so and making him repeat after her when he'd stay the night as a boy and Jay was still around to coerce him. For some inexplicable reason Jay had prayed like he meant every word. He'd said something about family tradition once but it hadn't mattered a wit to a seven year old Reno.

The service finished and activity broke through the ranks of the monks. Reno watched them disperse, one scurrying up to talk to Xíhē and Yue Fei. Xíhē's pretty pixie face was suddenly set in a frown. She made a command of Yue Fei in her rushing language and the little girl locked her arms around Xíhē 's armored leg yammering a protest. Xíhē shook her head, prying the girl loose and handing her to a whipcord Monk. Yue Fei was carrried away squirming as Xíhē turned to another monk with features similar to her own, sharp edged but his eyes were smaller and set further apart. When he crossed his arms the muscles knotted. Beads were wrapped around one massive fore paw. He shook his head and replied, dispatching the messenger monk with some answer. Xíhē and the monk went together towards another room on what Reno thought might be the front side of the Temple.

Yue Fei was being carted up the stairs, still squirming as she took careful note of her mother's trajectory. Reno watched her disappear from his view and slid the door shut. He had to find a way up. Returning to his window he dropped back down onto the veranda and crept the long way around the building, scouring it for a way up.

As luck would finally have it a knotted sheet was flung out of the third story and a little figure came repelling down right in front of him. It was none other than Yue Fei, her bone fine limbs moving her with surprising sureness. Reno waited to pounce back in the shadows but something about her made him hesitate. She landed noiselessly on the veranda, rolled onto the ground and ducked under it. Reno followed suit.

He crept after his preoccupied quarry around to a side of the temple. She pressed her cheek to the ground and he thought she might be listening but he realized in the courtyard he could see polished boots standing in exact lines. Yue Fei muttered something and pressed herself against the stone wall. Grunting she pushed up on the veranda. Reno heard it give but she wasn't quite strong enough.

It was a simple matter for him to lift the square over her. She hissed surprise and shrank away from him. Reno waited to see what she would do. In the light thrown down from above he saw her face crinkle with uncertainty. He put out his hand with a severe look. She looked away, fishing in her robes. In a flash a grape succor had been stuck into his mouth as Yue Fei beamed at him.

"See? I gave you what you wanted, right?" she seemed to be saying. The crippling look he returned made her cringe.

"Thank you for taking the time to see me, your highness," came a smooth voice Reno could understand above. He and Yue Fei both looked up. In mutual consensus they entered the trick passage, Yue Fei first and Reno following after into a place between the floor and the hard packed dirt of the ground. Yue Fei motioned at another panel and Reno quietly lifted it so they could peek their heads into a spare room. They eeled up on their bellies and the little princess silently shifted the sliding door with such practiced slowness that no one seemed to notice the crevice appear.

Xíhē reclined regally on plush cushions with her headdress on one knee. Beside her the monk with the beads sat on his knees with perfect posture glaring severely at the guest. The paper walls behind them were thrown open to the evening breeze, distant sounds of the waves and the whispering tree leaves filling the room. Standing opposite them was a very tall man in a long black coat, silver hair spilling down his back and curling over the shoulder guards. Reno and Yue Fei observed their profiles silently.

"Allow me to formally introduce myself," the silver haired man began.

"I know who you are," Xíhē answered curtly. "You are the Captain of the SOLDIER unit, Sephiroth. I have seen your work, the desolation you bring."

"War is a regrettable situation," Sephiroth replied as Reno's lip curled in disgust. He knew that name from years ago in Hojo's lab. He was sorry to see Sephiroth's nose wasn't crooked from the time he'd broken it. Yue Fei's head knocked against Reno's chin as she strained for a better view. They shifted slightly. "Which is why I've come to discuss peace terms with you. Emperor Godo will have nothing to do with it and I fear his pride will tear this country apart."

"And what terms are those?" Xíhē demanded frostily.

"Shin-Ra electric's only wish is to offer innovation and prosperity. All we ask is that you grant us the space and rights to do so. Running a reactor here will benefit your populace, giving them electricity to replace cook fires and candle light. We can bring you the cutting edge of medical technology and more to make work easier," Sephiroth began.

"And in exchange all you ask is the license to use our resources as your own. Yes, the promises of the East," Xíhē nodded and shifted so she was sitting upright rather than reclining. Her palms rested on her crossed knees, the demonic mask leering at Sephiroth from one of them. "I have been to Midgar, did you know this Sephiroth? I have walked along the plates and ridden in your cars and trains. It is a beautiful place, something very beautiful your Shin-Ra has made."

"We could do the same for your Wutai," Sephiroth smiled in a way that never touched his eyes.

"Have you ever been to the place beneath the plates? The slums, I think you call them? At night when I slept in a hotel made of everything fine, the best your president could provide, all I could hear was the hunger, the misery, the ringing sound of death that corroded the very heart of your city. There at her roots Midgar is festering like a wound without medicine. And the earth? I heard her crying too for that is all Midgar is. A sore, a cancer killing itself and the very earth upon which it sits. No, Sephiroth. I will not treat with you. Shin-Ra struggles on our shores, foundering in its attacks. You I will grant are strong but Wutai will crush you for unlike you we are not the born parasites to make our land sick. Our mother earth here is still strong, the blood of her people healthy. Go and tell your Shin-Ra that the Emperor and Empress are strong and we will not devour one another in discord as your Plates consume the sectors below."

"You will not be offered terms again, Empress," Sephiroth warned without malice. His face was still pleasant. "Next time we meet it will be because Wutai has fallen and I am come to make you a slave." The Monk at Xíhē's side half rose but the Empress stopped him. Yue Fei, sensing the atmosphere, moved to burst into the room with her knife. Reno restrained her with a hand over her mouth, heart thumping.

"No Sephiroth. The next time we meet I will be removing your scalp so I can sew your pretty hair into my head dress," Xíhē assured him as she stroked the fur streaming from her demonic mask. "Leave now before I ignore the rules of hospitality. Then again I do not think they apply for the dogs delighting in their service to cowards."

Sephiroth hesitated here, a flash of anger shadowing the mako glow in his green eyes. Tension mounted in the room as everyone waited to see how he'd respond to the slight. Suddenly he pulled from somewhere a wakizashi. Yue Fei bit Reno's hand, threw back the screen and ran with a reedy war cry for Sephiroth in defense of her mother.

Reno saw it all happen in slow motion. The wakizashi was unsheathed as Sephiroth turned to defend himself. Xíhē and the monk got to their feet with faces white with horror. Yue Fei's knife glittered cold in the light. And Reno felt the knife skim his forehead as he caught the little princess, rolled over her defensively, and ducked beneath the edge of a sure death.

No one said anything for the span of a few breaths, frozen in their positions. Yue Fei was shaking in Reno's arms, her eyes staring up at the cold expression on Sephiroth's face and the line of blood dripping from the wakizashi's tip where it had clipped her savior. Recognition registered in Sephiroth's eyes.

"Easy boss," Reno ad libbed. "She's just a kid, yo." Despite his shaking knees Reno stood, cradling Yue Fei. She clung to him, still fixed on Sephiroth. "Here, your highness. She's alright, just a little scared," he addressed Xíhē around the grape succor clenched between his teeth. Xíhē accepted her daughter as a mixture of relief and confusion mingled on her face. Covered in muck from slinking through the stream bed and under the veranda and peppered with the abraisions from his fight with the tides he looked like hell. He was sure he smelled like it too.

"Who are you?" Xíhē demanded.

"I forget the official title but my job basically is to do whatever needs doing. Catching her seemed to need doing," he smiled cheerfully, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Where did you...come from?" her eyes narrowed in disbelief.

"I was late. Got separated from the boss when I was out and fell into the ocean. I've never seen anything like that out there, yo. Those are serious waves," he smiled. "Then I saw this little one creeping about and followed her since I wasn't sure what she was. Came down from the third story out a window and thought it might mean trouble."

"You carry a blade with the mark of the Yatsuba house," Xíhē accused as she handed Yue Fei off to the monk.

"This? A girl gave it to me when I saved her from some guys in armor about to have their way with her." He pulled it out of his belt and presented it to her still sheathed. "I don't know much about fighting with one but its gotten me out of some tight spots yo."

Xíhē lifted the knife suspiciously, turning it over and unsheathing it. She looked between him and the blade, then to her daughter. It snapped back into its sheathe and she returned it to him.

"Keep it. The steel is good. It will serve you well and perhaps save you in turn," Xíhē replied. "Though you speak like a fox, stranger, I thank you for saving Yue Fei."

"She's a brave girl," he smiled, stashing the knife again. "Trouble maybe, but brave." Xíhē looked like she wanted to smile. Reno bobbed his head and swung around to 'return' to Sephiroth's side. "Sorry boss. Carry on," he gave the silver haired captain a smile.

"My apologies, Empress. I simply meant to return this. It belonged to your General Hanzo and he asked that I return it if we ever met peaceably, right before he killed himself," Sephiroth sheathed the wakizashi and presented it. "His other was broken when we met in battle." Reno expected anger from Xíhē but she seemed smug instead.

"Hanzo is ever honorable, even in defeat," she answered taking the wakizashi. "You will go now while the graces of your subordinate grant you passage," she barbed the words and went out of her way to smile at Reno. He smiled back like he wasn't about to be eaten alive by Sephiroth once they got out of the temple – without going through the grate! – and he had to answer for himself. Wordlessly Sephiroth turned, one hand clamping on the back of Reno's neck, and together they exited.

Men fell in line behind the two as Sephiroth marched him through their divided ranks, glowing eyes following him curiously. They passed out of the temple and as the men mounted Sephiroth turned Reno to face him.

"What fool trap are you into now?" he demanded icily.

"You're welcome yo. Its a lucky thing I keep turning up to teach you lessons," Reno scoffed. Sephiroth was seething under his cool facade.

"I should kill you where you stand. What are you doing here?"

"I'm not obliged to say. You'll have to ask Lyn and Verdot if you want anything out of me," Reno answered cheerily. "Or you could report back that you killed me and see how that goes for you," he goaded.

"I should have recognized her fingerprints all over you," Sephiroth rumbled as a look of disgust twisted his face.

"They are hard to wash out," Reno agreed. "May I carry on? I think you owe me a favor and letting me go in hostile territory hardly counts as a big one." Sephiroth grit his teeth but relinquished Reno.

"I will enjoy settling the socre," he promised, swinging up onto his chocobo. Reno only smiled and waved pleasantly as Sephiroth headed his troop of ten, retreating inland. Reno instead bolted back up the beach. He ran barefoot all the way to Kaza and then stopped, looking over his shoulder and wondering if he'd been followed. Unable to resist he pulled the pearl out of his pocket and grinned.


	21. Nature of the Job

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 21: Nature of the Job

When Rude encountered Lyn she was hunched over a makeshift table on a plastic crate, staring seriously at the table's contents as she rubbed her lips with her forefinger. Her grayed hair, usually spiked was pushed helter skelter and clumped with heat and her blue coat was crumpled on the floor. Sweat stains stood out around her arm pits, the sleeves rolled up past her elbows and the top buttons undone, the knot of her tie settled between her slight bosom. Whatever held her attention and the other Turks around the table must have been important.

"I'm calling your bluff Tyco," she answered suddenly and thumped a carton of Junon Jezebel's onto the table. As Rude came around them he realized it was a poker match. The other men quickly backed out and the one called Tyco, a stooped man with sharp angles and gaunt features smiled crookedly. He flipped over his hand. Lyn reached into a mountain of loose cigarettes and selected one at random, striking a match on the bottom of her shoe.

"That'll cost even you Lyn," Tyco threatened. Lyn flicked her cards over to gasps.

"I'll let ya have one Tyco, as a consolation prize," Lyn winked an amber eye. Tyco sat agog. "Now then, I smell aftershave," she turned around to face Rude. "Good to see you Darryl. I was afraid you'd leave Red on his own. You're a pair of aces," she flahsed the cards at him, aces in a spade and diamond. "How're your siblings?"

"Taken care of," Rude answered despite the sting in his chest. Lyn swung up. He found himself surprised she was shorter than he was by two inches.

"I suppose in a way that's true," she thumped his chest as she passed him, angling for a window. At the table Tyco was sulking over a cigaret, the other Turks consoling him. Rude followed Lyn to stand in the sticky breeze moving sluggishly up from the port. "Velden's a scam. He's too close with Hojo. Who knows what will get stuck in little Beatrice's system." Rude glanced at her from behind his sunglasses and remained mute.

"Your orders?" he asked at length as Lyn studied the anchored ships and the scars of battle disfiguring the city. She took a long pull and blew out a sigh of smoke.

"I need a bribe," she replied. "Did you know that Wutai has some of the most powerful Materia? They've been cultivating it since before we even knew what it was."

"Materia is?"

"Precisely," Lyn smiled. She crossed the room, cigaret between her teeth, and hefted a slender sword with the slightest arch. A gap in the sheath exposed a green orb. "_This_ is Materia. It harnesses everything from elemental forces to ailments." She put her cigaret out in a glass at Tyco's elbow, selected a fresh one, and returned to the window. She studied the tip hanging from her lips and the Materia began to glow faintly. A spark lit on the end of the cigaret. "It can do much more but this thing is laughable compared to what the Woots have in their arsenal. See Materia becomes stronger with time, can channel more power or whatever it does. Not only that their technique – highly secretive I might add – cultivates it so that it can summon even the Gods themselves. It comes off the cutting block three times what we've managed to do on our own. What I need from you Rude is two things. The first is a ring of prayer beads from the Sun Sect Monks and the second is someone who knows how to make Materia."

"He's a kid Lyn. He don't even know what you're getting him into," Tyco admonished as he swirled the tumbler with her cigaret floating in it. Lyn ignored him as she pushed Rude out the front door and back into the muggy sunshine.

"This is complicated here. Pull up one of those crates. They're ergonomic," she motioned. Rude did as he was told and carefully sat. Lyn was already drawing in the dirt with a stick. "Most of the Woots believe in the diety Leviathan and I hear Godo – their Emperor – controls the Materia that summons him. So almost everyone here puts their faith in that water snake. There's the Sun Sect though that instead puts their faith into Ifrit. The Empress Xíhē is one of these and she has the summon for Ifrit. Godo married her to settle his Kingdom to keep it from another civil war or something. The man killed his big brother for the throne so he's motivated by power. So not every body likes this marriage on either side but they share power for now. Given time Godo would probably off Xíhē too and consolidate so he had both Materia.

"Ordinarily the Sun Sect would blow you off the face of Gaea without a second thought. That being said I need you to kill two Sun Sect monks. And when I say kill them, I want them drowned in secret and then laid out someplace easy to find."

So his first order was to drown two men. Rude felt his insides go still.

"And you leave this with them," she continued without seeming to notice the sudden pallor of his expression. Lyn passed him a parcel wrapped in cloth. "Drape it over the bodies and take the beads they wear around their right arms. You'll recognize them by the suns they tattoo on the backs of their necks and scalps. Here we are and their temple is over the lines on the other end of the city," she tapped out the places she'd etched in the dirt. "You can see it there," she added pointing at a tower glistening in the distance.

"The expert?" Rude reminded her, the cloth in his lap weighing on his conscience.

"Shimmen Wakure. In Wutai they place family names first. Lyn, why are you assigning these high profile risks to children? You may be in charge of a sizeable portion of field operations here but I need actual talent. Your previous boy has yet to return," demanded a man as he handed a file to Rude.

"Have a little faith Verdot," Lyn answered leaning back. "I have contingencies for my contingencies, I promise. You'll be glad you trusted me."

"I'm never glad I trusted you. A quarter of the city was burned out with your last little scheme," Verdot accused gruffly. "And you didn't kill Xíhē either."

"But I made her flaunt Ifrit didn't I?" Lyn replied unruffled. "The more that thing rampages the less people will like it on either side."

"What is this one called?" Verdot sighed like a man much older than he was, perhaps somewhere near forty.

"Darryl Rude," he stood up and extended a hand. Verdot gave it a firm shake.

"Whatever Lyn's promised you results come first," Verdot eyed him suspiciously. Rude just nodded and opened the file. "You'll find Shimmen Wakure firmly entrenched in one of the temples at the feet of Da Chao. That's where most of the craftsmen stay but I want Shimmen. He's the best of the best. Don't botch this or I'll feed you to Xíhē in pieces. You too," he jabbed a finger at Lyn. She gave him a careless smile.

"Suits me boss. I've chosen well. I'll put two months hazard pay on my boys trumping Tseng."

"Don't pull me into this please," responded a mild man coming up the way behind Verdot. His dark hair was pulled back into a pony tail and a small spot decorated the middle of his forehead. Rather than Turk blues he was in a black suit of the same cut. "Anything you touch either burns or will forever have a legacy of blood Lyn."

"Don't be ungrateful whelp," Lyn brushed off the comment as it pressed down on Rude.

"Welcome to Wutai," Tseng offered his hand to Rude. "I understand you are friends with Landon Reno."

"Yes," Rude nodded once as they shook.

"You make for quaint opposites at first glance. Watch yourself out here, Rude. This place takes no prisoners." Tseng's advice was delivered with a piercing stare. He glanced distastefully at Lyn and then ducked into the shanty which seemed to serve as a sort of HQ.

"Under appreciated here," Lyn sighed as she stood up. "Introduce yourself to the SOLDIERs at their base that way. They'll tell you the best place to get over the lines today. Their captain is up north somewhere so that probably leaves Grim in charge. The other Lightning Bugs at their HQ will tell you where to find him."

"Yes ma'am," Rude answered as he looked one last time at the picture of Shimmen Wakure before returning the file to Lyn. He tucked the parcel under one arm and moved in the indicated direction.

If it hadn't been for the death shroud he carried Rude might have been able to appreciate the scenary around him. As it was he could only focus on the consequences of the task at hand. His resolve to best serve Beatrice wavered with the cost.

This wasn't just war he reflected. It was murder. War and murder were two completely separate conflicts. Going out and fighting with the other soldiers was one thing – although he had expected plenty of espionnage working for Lyn – but going out to assassinate hapless monks? It didn't sit quite right.

Rude recognized the SOLDIER headquarters as such by the M.P.s standing guard with their Mako eyes. They merely glanced at him, one's lip curling disdainfully, and let him pass into a significantly larger building rising about three stories. Inside was all wide open space with paper screens thrown open for as much air as possible. Tables had been pushed together and strewn with maps and in one corner equipment was set up. Reno would be able to tell what all the wires and boxes were but to Rude it just looked like slag that should have been rotting in the slums dumping grounds.

The only person here was a young man seated at the equipment with headphones on like the ones Miguel had made him wear in the helicopter. Rather than fuss with the electronics he was idly doodling on a scrap of paper, head propped in his free hand.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for Grim?" Rude said and the young man looked up. He was dressed in the blue uniform of the enlisted. His eyes flicked over Rude's attire and then he pointed towards a half open paper screen. "Thank you," Rude nodded.

Pushing sideways the screen opened fully and Rude was surprised to encounter a Wutain man sitting on the floor behind a low desk reading calmly through bloodied documents as if it were just a novella. His black hair was pulled up into a knot and heavy side burns bristled along his cheeks, bushy eyebrows raising as he looked up at Rude.

"Another cub," he observed as his eyebrows slanted down. "Remove your glasses." Rude did as he was ordered. "You must be friends with the other one that underwent preliminary SOLDIER treatment. Or is this a new habit of the Turks?"

"It's not standard procedure," Rude shook his head.

"So then you wish to cross the lines as he did."

"Please."

Grim studied him for several long moments that made Rude uncomfortable without his sunglasses. People had made so many comments about his mixed heritage and the peculiar glow in his eyes over the years that such genuine inspection tended to set him on edge. Whatever someone had to say it was almost never nice. But the commander didn't say a word. Rather he put away his pages and rose gracefully. Taking a standard issue blade from its place on the floor he secured it to his side.

"Come then. I will take you," he said. Rude replaced his sunglasses. "It is not just anyone who survives the treatment. Take pride in that," Grim advised as he passed. "Hammond. I will retrun shortly. Manage things."

"Sir," the recruit with the equipment hurried to salute, wincing as he banged his hand on one of the behemoth machines.

"I have patience to allow you time to stand without injury," Grim almost smiled as he led Rude back into the sweltering streets.

"Sir," Hammond shouted after them. The guards at the door saluted as well. Grim and Rude proceeded around the building to a row of the most beautiful bikes Rude had ever seen. Nevermind the scrapes and filth of the battlefield the workmanship was beautiful.

"Do you know something of bikes, Turk?" Grim asked. Rude hadn't realized he'd gasped aloud. Found out he placed a hand on one and squatted to examine it.

"Enough," he nodded. A fortune could be made back in Midgar with one of these. He squelched the boyhood memories counting cash with Cassie and Reno and cheering along whatever precarious perch they could find.

"A perk of SOLDIER. Our equipment is always superior to that of the Fenrirs and enlisted." Grim slung a leg over one and turned the key. The bike roared throatily to life and settled into a rumbling purr. "Climb on."

Rude sat behind the Wutain SOLDIER and thrilled as they pulled out into streets of hard packed dirt. The bike didn't ride, it prowled like a big cat. All sleek lines and smooth handling he barely felt road as the wind moved by them fast enough to finally be called cool. The ride was almost intoxicating enough to ignore all the ruined homes and the ravaged possessions, stray dogs and the occaisional flash of a terrified face peeking through broken windows. Almost but not quite.

Grim came to a stop a ways from the river. He took the keys with him as ordinary soldiers in their blue uniforms melted out of the woodwork.

"First Lieutenant Grim! We weren't expecting you sir!" one exclaimed as they saluted crisply.

"As you were. Where's Durmont?"

"Master Sergeant Durmont crossed the river already sir!" the same recruit answered.

"Anyone left on this side?"

"Coporal Darcy is, sir. Down at the Dodgey Bridge," he pointed. Grim nodded and had Rude follow him again along the hastily constructed fences and sprawling barb wire cluttering the river bank. He could feel the shudder of artillery and smelled damp wood and fire at the same time. Nearby a house burst into flames, barely fifteen feet from them. Rude jerked away from it. Blue coats swarmed dumping buckets of water on it and shouting for a hose. Grim merely examined it like a clerk checking inventory.

"This bridge, the 'Da Jia' in local dialect, is one of the last ones standing. Imperial forces have been very good about blowing them all up which makes it hard to move an army about over a big river like the Hibiki. Most of the action is centered here but its also one of the only ways across without taking at least a week to skirt the entire city, assuming you don't enounter either bandits or prowling Imperials. Do me a favor Turk and actually _learn_ the local names of things. I may work for Shin-Ra but please at least do this ancient city the courtesy. You'll get much farther here with respect, even amidst your enemies."

Rude digested the tip as they came upon a scene of blasting shells and explosions. Blue coats were spraying the opposite side of the bridge with machine gun fire as a few exhausted souls hunkered over Materia, their eyes fixed on ethereal barriers that repelled or dampened the return fire. Only one wore the SOLDIER uniform and he was focused with one of the Materia orbs clenched in his gloved fist. He stood with the blue coats in cover, sword drawn in the other hand.

"Take a breather for a few minutes Darcy and ptach up your wounded. I'm crossing," Grim advised. Darcy with his blond mohawk and multiple piercings along his ear barely glanced at the Lieutenant.

"Durmont's across with a mind for the Woot nest in the old silk factory." He flipped the hand holding the sword and moved as if to hurl the weapon. With a crack lightning struck. "Swap out!" Darcy barked as fire started from the sparks on a house on the far bank. Blue coats traded machine guns for Materia with surprising orderliness, Darcy's Materia glow never fading. "Medic!" he yelled.

"Shall we?" Grim unsheathed his sword. There were three Materia embedded at the base of the sword like green eyes. One of them began glowing as Grim advanced down the bridge without concern. Not sure what else to do Rude followed in his wake.

A green mist poured out ahead of them and what must have been Imperial soldiers rapidly back tracked. Their armor was almost scaley with horns on their helmets or snarling face masks. Shouting they gave ground. Unlucky soldiers caught in the mist fell chocking, twitching, and then went still with bloated purple faces. Grim stepped over the fallen as if he were only out stretching his legs. A fireball came hurtling at them and the Lieutenant batted it away with the flat of his blade so it plunged hissing into the wide current.

"Keep up," Grim called before he bolted. Reno gave chase.

His reward was an up close account of wholesale slaughter. On his own Grim literally carved through Imperial soldiers like a hot knife in butter. They fell in droves before him. He found them amidst the broken buildings with preternatural senses and delivered death with maxiumum efficiency. It was all Rude could do to shut out what was happening and keep up.

After butterflying a man Grim plunged his sword into the ground and shockwaves tore through their surroundings. Timber buckled with splintering shrieks, human cries swallowed up in their midst. Rude barely kept his balance in the bloody mud.

"That will buy you a few minutes. There will soon be elites working towards me. Hurry on your errand Turk," Grim instructed, poised like a classical statue.

"Thank you," Rude ducked his head numbly, tongue dry. He scanned the horizon just long enough to pinpoint the Sun Sect temple.

"Take this," Grim added, plucking one of the Materia free. He threw it to Rude. It may as well have been a bloody heart as it landed in Rude's palm. He stared at it as his stomach did backflips. "Explaining Materia is difficult. It will activate when you need it."

Rude could only give him a nod for fear he'd throw up if he opened his mouth. Turning he ran in the direction of the temple and didn't look back.

In his time he had seen some terrible things but nothing had prepared him for this. The images of dismembered bodies and gaping wounds kept replaying in his head, the smell of blood and burning things, the fear. He only stopped running when he could duck into an alley and it was there he realized he'd been crying, tear tracks carving paths through the secondary spatter of blood and grime.

What had he and Reno gotten themselves into?


	22. The Good Life

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 22: The Good Life

They had not expected him to return Reno surmised as his approach towards the Nakamura gates made the guards there gasp. Dressed neatly in their enormous blue jackets with geometric flower patterns and strange wooden sandals they looked like strange bird dolls as their sleeves flapped with their sudden animation. Beneath him Kaza perked a bit. He'd been cowed the whole way home, both of them hungry and tired.

"Neko-sama!" they greeted, one rushing to take the reins of the Chocobo as the other dashed inside the gates.

"Yo," he gave a two fingered salute. The scabs on his knees cracked as he dismounted to place his bare feet on the damp ground. It was a drizzling, grey morning. A silvery sheen had collected on his shirt and pants while goose flesh rose along his skin. Reflexively he checked his pocket. The pearl was still there.

Limping along next to his chattering guard – no telling what he was blithering – Reno was barely able to keep upright. He hadn't stopped all the way back from the temple. His legs wobbled in places and seized in others, every muscle protesting the simple act of breathing. He had the vague understanding that someone else had come to guide him where he was meant to go before he was again standing before Tiger boss.

"You return," Tiger boss announced as if Reno might not have realized.

"Said I would," he rasped. "This what you wanted?" he pulled the pearl out of his pocket and offered it. Shock hissed through the ranks before Tiger boss silenced them with one rasied hand. He approached Reno since the red head swayed on his feet. Taking the prize he appraised it, turning it this way and that as the light shimmered across its surface.

"Well done Neko-san," Tiger boss nodded, curling his fingers around it. "I did not think you could do it. This thing, I have coveted it many years now."

"Allies then?" Reno demanded.

"Yes Neko-san. We are allies. Now maybe you should bathe and sleep? You are smelling terrible," he cracked a grin. The only thing Reno remembered before waking up beneath water cool sheets was smiling back. He struggled to recall what had happened to him as he groaned into a sitting position.

A delicate smell hung around the room and everything was perfectly silent. Around him were sumptuous red curtains as he lounged in an ocean of the softest pillows he had ever touched. Impossible fabric was draped over his naked form, smooth and beautiful, dyed vibrantly. Reno wondered if he was dreaming. He moved to pinch himself but the stiffness of his muscles reminded him immediately that he had almost drowned, flayed himself against a rough ocean floor, been cut by jagged grates, crawled under damp verandas, dueled with a mutated mako man, and out pilfered a five year old all in the last seventy two hours or so.

Maybe he was dead and this was heaven? Did slums brats get to go to heaven? No one moved beyond his curtains so he leaned back, throwing his arms wide so he could lounge.

"Oh god, don't make me leave this bed," he begged softly. Something did shift now. Little fingers parted the curtains and a small woman in a vibrant robe entered. Reno's mouth dropped open as he studied her creamy, bare shoulders and the long length of perfectly toned leg flashed with every step. Her hair was loosely gathered, ornaments winking at him like stars in her satin tresses. Her round face puckered about the thin eyebrows as she looked at him with uncertainty. "Um, occupied?" he stammered, trying desperately to remember how he'd gotten into this fabulous bed and wondering if it wasn't supposed to be his. The last thing he wanted was to get caught with Tiger boss' woman.

She sank next to him in a sultry pool of half fallen gown and her fingers were warm as she laid them across his chest. He remained perfectly still, trying not to alarm her and hoping she couldn't hear his heart hammer against his ribs. She said something and hooked the sheets with one finger.

"I'm naked woman!" his voice cracked embarrassingly as he stopped her from pulling them back. She looked back startled. Her eyes flicked to the door as her eyebrows drew together again. "Look lady, I have no idea how I got here. Ya gotta believe me," he tried to tell her as she sat staring at her knees with an increasing look of despair. "I don't know who you're looking for but I'd really like all my bits and pieces with me when I'm well enough to go." He scooted painfully away from her. She looked wounded and hugged her shoulders, tears rimming her sooty eyes with their long lashes. "Ack! Don't cry! No! Shit," he mussed his hair watching the drops fall. She turned away from him and hurried from the pillows, her little feet pattering. He heard a screen slide and slam followed by voices out in the hallway. Reno's heart stopped as Tiger boss suddenly appeared. His brow was furrowed in consternation as he studied the boy's pale face.

"Does Kaede not please you?" he prompted. Reno blinked twice. His brain struggled to digest these words.

"Uuuwhaaa?" he cocked his head to one side as the thoughts collapsed.

"I will find another woman to mind you then. Foolish of me to trust a girl with the duties of a woman. My apologies," Tiger boss actually bowed to _Reno._

"Hold on!" Reno stopped him. "Not please...woman...minding what the hell?" he garbled. Tiger boss only looked more confused. "Wait so she's gonna look after me?"

"Yes, all your needs. You are young so I thought perhaps her company would be suitable. She is not terribly bright but she knows her art. None of my women know your Midgar speech or I should have assigned one with whom you could talk."

"Ah, do _all_ your nurses look like that? I mean, I'm more worried about what I'd do to her Tiger-boss and I don't want to upset you in your own house yo."

Tiger boss laughed suddenly, his eyebrows rising. When his laughter had subsided he put his hands on his hips and studied Reno. He laughed again, calling over his shoulder. Kaede returned, dew drop tears strung on her lashes. She almost hid behind Tiger boss.

"She is my reward for your hard work," Tiger boss assured him. "Please, I give her to you to do with as you please! Have her tend your wounds, feed you, or satisfy any craving that is yours. She is meant to please you, Neko-san. I forget the men of the east are prudish in this," he cackled and spoke to Kaede. Reno just stared at them. Kaede's eyes widened as a flush of embarrassment crossed her cheeks. She looked shyly at Reno again and asked a question of Tiger boss. "She asks if you will kindly grant her the honor of attending you, Neko-san."

"Who am I to tell a lady no?" Reno replied with a flabbergasted shrug. "Ah, thank you Tiger-boss."

"Of course," he chuckled. "I suggest you let her worry about your activities, Neko-san. Just until you get used to having her with you. I have sent a message to Verdot. It should reach him soon. Until you are well you will stay here. I have asked that he meet me here and you will accompany him on his return to your lines across the city."

"Okay," Reno nodded. Tiger boss gave Kaede a pat, said something to her with a wicked smile at Reno, and then departed. When the door had slid shut the two youths stared at each other, neither one quite certain what to do with the other.

She was pretty he thought after a moment of awe. How was any of this possible? He slumped back against the pillows suddenly exhausted. Kaede made a little sound and appeared at his side. She rested her porcelain hands on his chest as he looked up into her face. Kaede touched his forehead, her expression forming a question.

"I have no idea toots," he shook his head. He reached up and cleared away a lingering tear from the corner of her eye, smoothing the lines of her make up. "There." Kaede's round face eased into the first smile he'd seen and it was stunning. He felt his whole face light up red, the hot bloosh flooding down his neck and shoulders. This seemed to please Kaede even more as her own cheeks glowed and a spark entered her black eyes.

She took his arm and began gently unravelling bandages. When the abraison was bared she left him only long enough to collect a salve and clean dressings. Taking care to draw her fingertips along his skin she spoke gently, sending electric thirlls through him. She was entirely at ease now, eyes glancing at him every so often from beneath her lashes. He sat transfixed and let her work, spell bound. Part of him wondered if she would disappear in smoke if he so much as moved.

His unease returned full force when she pulled back the sheets to get at his ravaged knees and shins and the stitches on his hip. Kaede glanced up recognizing his discomfort. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, the back of one finger tracing his jaw. And then she simply went back to work.

Reno keyed into the sound of her voice and slowly relaxed. Whatever she was telling him brought warmth to her face. He could see it in the way she spoke, the minute creases around her eyes when she smiled, the soft curve of her lips, and the pitch of her words. She finished her work and pulled the sheets back over him with a little smile, touching her finger to his nose. Carrying away the healing supplies she returned with scented water in a delicate cup. When he drank it the bitter flavor made him wrinkle his nose. He finished it all as she seemed to insist.

Fluffing pillows around him she made sure he was comfortable before becoming slightly uncertain. She hesitated as she studied him, running through some mental check list. Reno wondered if she thought he had some other appetite and blushed intensely as thoughts tangled across his mind. Shame made him lower his eyes as he recalled Cassie, as if it would be treachery somehow.

"Neko-san?" Kaede asked, settling next to him. She brushed hair back from his forehead with the tip of one finger, studying his features. She traced his nose and brushed her thumb along the scars near each eye.

Reno closed his eyes. Kaede curled against his side and he shifted an arm behind her. Her touch whispered along his skin as if she sought to sketch him. He drifted away into sleep trying to imagine it was Cassie.

Of course when he woke it was Kaede who appeared. She brought him to a scented bath and washed he and his injuries down, petals drifting in the wooden tub. Food came as she alternately talked to him or hummed softly. When she'd folded him into their origami styled clothes, these ones white with great navy colored fish embroidered into it, she brought him to a garden where Tiger boss was sitting drinking some of the scented water.

"I see Kaede is taking care of you. Does she satisfy?" Tiger boss inquired with a lopsided grin. His snowy hair was gathered at the nape of his neck, wild eyebrows almost wriggling on their own.

"Yes, she's fine," Reno nodded conscious of her presence and finding he liked her perfume. She was attired more appropriately, her robes pulled up around her shoulders and secured so her long legs weren't exposed with each step. "I feel almost human yo," he smiled.

"Then tonight you should really sample her skills," Tiger boss advised. "Now you are recovered. But you will do as you think best Neko-san. In the mean time you will tell me of the daughter of Xíhē."

He sipped his tea as Reno looked out over a serene garden of trees with red leaves, others with branches that draped down like a veil into still pools of water marked with shimmering fish in white, black, gold and orange. He saw bristled trees with green needles and bushes with flowers the size of his fist in white and red. Moss and rocks were scattered, a little arched bridge affording shade for the colorful fish.

"She's trouble," was the first thing Reno could think to say. He conjured Xíhē's miniature and couldn't help the smile. "Looks just like Xíhē."

"I have never seen her. The Empress and her assassins I have met. Just once." Tiger boss' expression was grim. "What trouble did she cause you?"

"She cleaned me out like a tourist yo," Reno admitted, opening his eyes. "Took my succors, stole the pearl after she'd _pretended_ to give it to me, and almost got me decapitated when she pulled a knife on a SOLDIER." He touched the thin scab on his forehead.

"She is a Kisaragi. The Emperor is known for the brutality of his lessons," Tiger boss nodded. He folded his arms across his chest and gazed out over the court yard. "How did you take the pearl?"

"Reclaimed it when I saved her," Reno ran his tongue over his teeth, wishing for something to chew on at least to distract him from the nicotene withdrawls.

"How did this SOLDIER come to be there?"

"Had a message for peace terms. Xíhē threw it in his face of course. That's when Yue Fei tried to jump him. I'd been tailing her and stepped in just then."

"You have only delayed her execution. The Kisaragis do not submit. They will have to be killed," Tiger boss shook his head.

"Those weren't my orders," Reno dissented almost absently.

"And what if they become your orders, Neko-san?"

"Then that's what I'll do," he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. The beautiful garden seemed to darken around him as his pulse slowed down. He thought of Yue Fei shivering in his arms, the wide eyed fear fixated on Sephiroth. "I made my choice Tiger-boss. I picked my side."

"I hope that your boss and I get along. You are not a terrible threat now but I should be sorry to call you my enemy in a few short years."

They fell silent after that. Reno gave it a few minutes before stepping down onto the stones leading towards the fish pool. He put his hands on his hips and watched the fish surge towards him, their mouths popping along the surface. He'd never seen live fish before, just pictures on canned meats too expensive for him to buy. Would they be good to eat he wondered?

Kaede appeared suddenly at his elbow and tossed crumbs into the water. They were gobbled up as the fish seemed to squirm eagerly. Their movements were clumsy and graceful all at once. Kaede held out her hand to him. Reno pinched some of the crumbs and sprinkled them in the water. He smiled as they were devoured. The two of them finished off the crumbs as he quietly delighted in the play of light on their scales.

A month ago he'd been confined to the bowels of Midgar, doomed to spend his life scavenging a life from the refuse of the plates. Now he stood out in the sunlight in exotic Wutai seeing and feeling things he wouldn't have believed. Sunlight, wind, clean water, the differences of night and day, Kaede's delicate perfume, his sumptuous bed, these fish, it was all stunning; better than anything he could have imagined. But what a price tag.

The remainder of the day was spent eating what he liked and wandering the estate, greeted respectfully by men who only knew him as 'Neko-sama' and bowed respectfully. The women in all their colorful garb tittered behind their fans, some of them smoking perfumed pipes fashioned long and delicate. Kaede tailed him several steps back until he turned around and held out his hand. She had blanched when he'd put her hand in the crook of his arm to ensure she would walk next to him. If they couldn't talk together he would at least have her act like his companion rather than his shadow. After a short time she seemed to adjust to this although it made her nervous when others shot them strange looks. Reno didn't care.

They ate with Tiger boss and people Reno supposed were his most loyal friends or family members. He sat to Tiger boss' right and Kaede to his right. After that strange music was plucked out live rather than over tinny recordings skipping in shops. He watched in fascination as hollow bodied, long necked string instruments had melodies teased out by little white fingers. Other women danced with fans or umbrellas, sometimes just with their long sleeves covering their hands. The men talked and drank late into the night until they were dismissed by the Tiger boss.

Kaede brought him back to his room where she lit lamps and pushed around the screens until he had a nice view of the garden. A cool breeze swept by reminding him it was still early spring. She pulled the curtains around the soft mats and sumptuous pillows that made up his bed and sat at the edge. He ran his knukcles along his jaw staring at her as she stared at him. Guilt was flipping around in his insides as he admired her beauty and thought about the comfort that came from her company all day in this strange place. Kaede gave him a full two minutes and then she took charge. All other thoughts were forced from him until the next morning.


	23. Elbow Deep

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

**A/N: **For Licoriceallsorts. I hope its up to par. ^_^

Chapter 23: Elbow Deep

Assassins were supposed to have years of training. Rude did not. Assassins were supposed to know how to kill a man at least thrity different ways without having to think about it. Rude did not. Assassins knew how to wall off their morals so killing wouldn't matter. Rude did not.

As he crouched in the shadows all Rude could think about was how brutally unprepared he was. Joining the Turks was a fool plan from the beginning but he'd assumed there would be some preparation. That the worth of his soul would depend on his raw talent alone had never occurred to him. Murder on his first assignment?

At first he'd tried not to think about it as he zig zagged through the streets of Wutai. There had been plenty of other concerns, like the threat of elites Grim had mentioned or the chance of stumbling into more armored troops. Navigation had not been a challenge since the years of making paths through frequently shifting junk heaps had given him an innate compass made many times stronger by the fixed patterns of the steadfast moon and sun. Rude wondered if it was possible for him to get lost ever again with such reference points.

When he'd come to the Sun Temple he'd skulked like a shadow and waited for monks to separate from their brothers and sisters for any reason. All he needed were two. In the time it had taken for this to happen – almost two days now – he had gotten a feel for their brutal style of hand to hand combat which ignored any pretense of defense in favor of inhuman pain tolerance. Additionally he understood the lay of the land and knew where all sources of water could be found. The nearest was a temple emblazoned with a sea serpant just two blocks away, very humble with a stone statue settled in a pool of about four feet of water. It was half rubble but Rude had watched the city dwellers gather both mornings to pray.

It didn't take a genius to decipher Lyn's plan. She meant to set both sects against each other and either cause one to defect – probably the smaller but ferocious Sun Sect – to the Shin-Ra or to gnaw away at their power base. For its straight forward duplicity it would probably be effective. Even a common enemy would scarce keep two opposite ideologies together for long in the face of hate crimes.

Two Sun Sect monks had left the security of their temple together. They were a young pair, bald heads emblazoned with brilliant sun tattoos. He recognized them immediately as lovers and his guts twisted. Stalking them wasn't hard in their utter distraction. It took two blocks – not far from the Water Temple – for them to stop caring as they giggled hurriedly into the safety of a shed left behind the shattered foundations of what had once been a house. Rude was careful to ensure they both had the green beads wrapped around their right arms.

He sat outside as they got to it feeling like a perverted demon for all his designs on them. Sweat crawled under his formerly kempt outfit. After two days sneaking around the temple he was a wreck, his nerves ragged as the burden of his task gnawed at them.

Damien was dead and though his mother insisted he was still a part of the family Rude's father had other ideas. When he'd come around he'd torn everything Rude had ever touched out of the house, destroying even the one precious photo containing everyone from right before Antoine Jr. had left with the Fenrirs. Rude was forbidden from returning while his father breathed. All he had left was Beatrice, broken in some far away Midgar hospital surrounded by greedy doctors.

Sending her back to live with the family would certainly end badly. Either she would bumble into Antoine Sr.'s way or she'd be unable to help with the business and just provide an extra mouth to his over burdened family. Never mind the innumerable dangers of slums life between the scrap yards and the shady characters looking for a quick buck no matter the job, Beatrice would be miserable and dead in no time flat. The simple children, if they were lucky, disappeared into Plate labs. Unlucky ones wound up beaten or starved to death in gutters.

_'I took responsibility when I sold my soul to Lyn to save her. Its not Beatrice's fault, its mine,'_ he reminded himself before his thoughts could fully form, the lurking one that said he shouldn't have asked for Lyn's help and just let the chips fall where they would. Now he wasn't just going to bury his hands in blood up to the elbow, he was going to pour it over his sister's head. Poor Beatrice would never know it but his sins would be the only thing keeping her from a life cut brutally short. He couldn't even cut his losses and go home to nurse her as best he could on their own in the slums. If he knew anything it was that Lyn would never give him up now she had her 'aces'.

Things had finally gone quiet inside. The sound of Rude's heartbeat got louder instead. More sweat soaked through the back of his jacket as his hands shook. He was grossly inequipped for this situation, nevermind the mystery Materia pressing in his pocket. The unopened cloth parcel was tucked in his belt.

Rude tried to breath deeply and scrambled for the array of plans he'd dismissed as useless. These were people, other living, breathing, _loving_ humans. He shook his head. Such thoughts would at best get him killed by his targets, at worst killed by Lyn.

_'This is a job,'_ he told himself. Clenching his fists he listened to the shifting of cloth. _'Its too late. Die now or later, you chose to kill or be...'_

A shadow had fallen over him. The sunglasses snapped as color exploded along the side of his head. He hit the ground reeling, blood pouring out of his nose. Stuggling to get up he caught a foot to the ribs. A man's voice made some command and he heard more footsteps.

Someone took the scruff of his jacket and yanked him up. Angry words were exchanged and somone got slapped. Rude was jostled, a hand closing in a vice around his jaw.

"Shin-Ra," he heard someone say, bleary eyes focusing on the moon shadowed face. More blows came down on him. Every one was shuddering. One in particular made him heave the bit of scrounged food he'd called breakfast that morning. Someone laughed as he was released to slump on his knees, blood dribbling down his swollen face.

"Men of Midgar have no honor. They are not men at all," said one with surprisingly clear Midgarean. He squatted before Rude and sneered. "You should have stayed in your slum. But I guess no one misses you when you go. After all, maggots do not have feelings."

Something broke. Rude realized he was on his feet looking down at the boy of his original targets. His knuckles stung where they'd connected with teeth. Searing pain landed in his ribs. Turning he couldn't stop the girl's second blow from slamming into his lower abdomen, the force magnified by Kastanakis' lingering work. Instead of crumbling he hooked his fingers around the knee that had delivered the strike and put his whole torso into the torque of an old fashioned right cross. She hit the ground and didn't get up again.

The uninvited thrid landed on his back and locked an arm around Rude's throat. He staggered back unbalanced, almost tripping over another body. Rude jerked his elbow back into muscled ribs repeatedly. His assailant didn't budge as his vision swirled. They crashed into a building. Rude's legs were giving out.

The Materia was clenched in one hand through some reflexive memory. Desperately he willed it to work. When that failed he hammered it against his enemy's knee cap. That gave him some breathing room in gasping, hacking abruptness. Staggering around he saw the green beads wrapped around the monk's right arm begin glowing. Rude had seen the monks practicing with their beads and knew immediately he was about to be reduced to a pile of ash and teeth.

Rather than frighten him everything seemed to clear. He could see every roof tile in silver light, count the creases in his attacker's robe, and hear the breathing of the incapacitated lovers to one side. Rude's hand curled tighter around the useless Materia and he sprang forward. The monk brought his fist around forward, the beads like green fire as heat rippled the air around them. Fire singed the top of Rude's shaved head.

His momentum slid him right beneath the monk's fire arm when he dropped to his knees. He heard the monk gasp. Drawing the last vestiges of his strength Rude sprang in a driving upper cut, the Materia cracking against the monk's jaw and carrying him up off the ground. Wounded and completely out of fight he stood panting over his fallen enemies. Nearby houses were burning and he could hear shouts. He squatted and checked the pulses of his quarry. Only the young man was still breathing.

Voices were getting closer now. Rude took the unconscious young man's head and gave it a quick twist, his stomach flipping backwards at the crack. He'd seen it done once in a back alley on Wall Street over a petty fee. He snagged the three bead ropes from the bodies and extracted his parcel. Ripping it open he unfurled a standard with a great sea serpent covered in unreadable grafiti.

The monks weren't drowned but there was no time for that now. He draped the cloth over one body and took off, staggering away as the first spectators arrived. Rude didn't stop until he couldn't hear the clanking siren calling for help anymore. He crawled inside of a bombed out building, curled up in a corner, and fell unconscious.

When he came around again in the dusk he sat for several minutes with his hands clenched. The previous night's work ran through his thoughts on repeat, every detail perfectly clear and any he forgot reminding him with pain when he moved. But for all that he thought about it he couldn't quite feel anything. He sat thinking he should be reflecting on what a monster he'd become or wallow in self loathing but these emotions never manifested in the physically wrenching way they should.

Dark finally fell. Rude emerged from his lair. Folding his memories up like a kerchief he tucked them away in a back corner of his mind. At present his concern was the Materia master. He touched the three Materia ropes hanging around his neck and made certain there was Grim's useless gift in his pocket. Gaining his bearings he turned towards the mountains rising up behind the city.

He moved with all the stealth years in the slums had taught him, slinking along shadows and between houses lest he be caught by the stomping patrols or a haggard looking peasant still trapped in the beseiged city. It surprised him how attuned he was to everything around him. When he waited out the passage of troops he was calm, heart beat even now.

It was just before dawn when he finally managed to cross the city to the feet of mountains carved with great figures posed dramatically. Rude would have taken time to appreciate them if the need to conceal himself wasn't so pressing. Like a vampire he sought some unobserved cranny to slink away into and managed to just roll under a veranda as someone was opening a sliding door. He hunkered in with all the patience of a predator, grateful for more time to rest his aching feet and the throbbing wounds.

Sleep came and went, undisturbed by dreams but instead by the occaisional sound of pattering feet or children. His eyes would flash open and he'd watch tensely as screeching youths chased each other or rough housed with dogs. Other times adult voices would murmur together. Rude wondered idly if one of them were Shimmen Wakure. He studied the people here, lulled by their rhythmic, incomprehensible speech.

A pit of hunger gnawed at his insides. Dinner cook fires made the juices in his belly churn hungrily. Rude grit his teeth and tried to put his mind elsewhere as hard boyhood times had taught him. Night began to fold around the peaceful corner of town, the mortars and Materia explosions at the Da Jia bridge little more than fire crackers so far away.

Rude emerged to begin his search with beastial patience. He slunk around each structure and peeked in windows, crept by doors, paused to listen to conversations and slip beyond them at just the right moment. The moon studied him as it cast a chill on the stained shoulders of his jacket. His shadow seemed unusually dark on the ground.

Finally he arrived at the shrine he sought halfway through their midst. He could see just beyond the screen Shimmen Wakure, his distinctive burn scars twisting half his face into melted features with blotches of white and pink skin.

"So then demon, you make yourself known," Wakure addressed him without looking up from the rice he was eating. Lounging on the bare wooden floors in drafty robes, his thick iron gray hair left loose around his shoulders. Set across from the old Materia master was another bowl with a set of two sticks balanced across the top. "I wondered how long before the Shin-Ra set their dogs after me."

"Will you come peacefully?" Rude asked, sliding the door all the way back so he stood in the golden hearth fire in the center of the room. Wakure had a smile that twisted his already disfigured face.

"And why not alert the others here? We may all be peaceable, too old and too young, but our numbers far outweigh yours."

"Please don't make me kill them needlessly sir," Rude asked softly, tacking the honorific on as an afterthought on Grim's advice. Wakure snorted. Not that he knew how to use them but Rude extracted a string of Sun Sect Materia and wrapped it around his right wrist. He felt stronger despite his recent beatings with it on his arm. Wakure stopped laughing, studying the beads.

"So it was you then boy. On your own? You truly are a demon. But your eyes glow with the hate of those strange soldiers down by the river attacking the bridge and rampaging in the city." Wakure spit something onto his beautifully cleaned floor and took another bite. "How long I wonder before your poison has leeched into the city? Corrupted the souls of our young and eaten their honor?"

Rude made no answer. Instead he waited to see what the old man would do, eyes occaisionally straying to the bowl of rice. For just plain grain it smelled like the most wonderful thing in the world.

"Would you like to eat?" Wakure offered slyly.

"When my task is done," Rude nodded.

"Ah, a man of 'honor' are you?" the twisted man laughed. He scraped more food into his mouth with the pincer like sticks clenched in his square fingers. Rude stood in the doorway and looked over his shoulder, waiting for someone to morph out of the woodwork and attack him. Wakure ate, his eyes fixed on Rude. Periodically he would mumble something to himself or pick something out of the rice.

When he was through he stood up painfully, grunting with the effort. Rude watched as he made a show of collecting an old cane. Wakure hobbled towards the Turk standing in his door frame.

If Rude hadn't spent the better part of a week glutted with death he wouldn't have noticed the slight movements that gave Wakure away. He was keenly aware of the way Wakure held his cane and almost felt the knife slide free at the handle. Rude's wide hand clamped down on the old man's papery skin before he could fully draw, jamming the knife back into concealment. Not bothering to give the surprised old man a second chance Rude jammed his forehead into the old man's nose with a loud crunch and caught him as he fell.

It was with Wakure bound and slung over his shoulders that Rude approached the Da Jia bridge in the beginnings of watery dawn. If the old man had woken up he made no move to announce it. Rude kept pace in the quiet wondering how to signal his need to cross. Would they be friendly eyes that saw him?

"I wondered if you would return," Grim emerged from shadows to one side as if summoned. Rude stopped, his honey brown eyes fixing on the SOLDIER. "Something about the fires set near the Temple was an omen."

"A lucky coincidence in timing," Tseng morphed out of a different shadow. He looked Rude up and down, studying the stains and creases defiling Rude's Turk blues. His dark eyes flicked across the bound Wakure. Grim looked unconvinced. "Verdot, Lyn and I were on our way to meet with some new allies. Your prisoner can return with Corporal Darcy."

"But this is my first time over the Dodgey!" the SOLDIER with the Mohawk complained from somewhere beyond Rude's line of vision. Rude watched Tseng's face remain perfectly serene.

"Some other time Corporal," he rebutted simply. Darcy stomped around a corner, his glimmering eyes slashing up and down Rude's damaged physique critically. "If you want me to call it an order I will," Tseng cut him off as Darcy's mouth unhinged to protest. Finding no ally in Grim either he took the burden of the old man himself and swirled away with irritable grumbles.

"I told you so," Lyn smirked as a throaty jeep pulled through a tight corner. Verdot was at the wheel looking old again. "Get in. This'll be better than the bed you think you want to sleep in now," she jerked her thumb at the back. Rude obeyed automatically, barely capable of hauling himself into the mud spattered vehicle. Tseng and Grim both melted back into the shadows. As they proceeded Rude could hear the Shin-Ra bikes growl into life, Grim cutting them off and weaving up ahead. Tseng was somewhere else close by.

"Nice bling," Lyn climbed into the back seat next to him, the wind flapping through her shirt. Her jacket was piled in the chair she'd just vacated. Thumping down next to him she pulled Rude's collar down with a soft whistle at the ropes of Materia he wore.

"There wasn't time to drown them," Rude reported.

"Stylistic touch really. You left the flag right?"

"What did it say?"

"Shin-Ra dogs," she shrugged propping a foot up on the back of the seat as she reclined, head tipped back to the sky. Rude saw fresh bruising along her collar bone and split skin along her knuckles. Two stitches had settled back in her hairline since last they'd met.

"Got a cigarette?" Rude asked after a moment. Lyn's wolf eyes flicked to him as she sat up but she didn't argue. Rummaging in the jacket she'd left beside Verdot she extracted a pack of Junon Jezebels. Rude took the whole pack and tucked inside his destroyed coat. "Reno will take anything by now," he answered her inquisitive face. Her smile slashed crooked and she pulled a cellophane wrapped pack of Sol Sunbursts from her pant pocket.

"Trade you."

When Rude complied she also passed him one of the putrid potions he recalled from the hours after the escape from Hojo's. Pinching his nose he threw it back without a second thought. Afterwards he settled back, slouching, and closed his eyes.

"I wondered why you were so keen on two slums boys," Verdot said after a while, perhaps thinking Rude asleep. "But they both pulled it off. Well chosen."

"I'm a lot of things Verdot but I'm not stupid. What do you want?" Rude could smell her cigarette despite the wind rushing past them.

"Word's made it back to Hojo about them and he's piecing together that grisly bit of 'espionnage' you pulled all those years ago. He's not happy Lyn and he has the president's ear in certain matters."

"Hojo, Hojo, Hojo, you hateful little runt," Lyn sighed, shifting in the seat next to Rude. "Has the president said anything?"

"He's sent an inquiry to me."

"I'll handle it. Hojo won't be putting his fangs back into them."

"If I recall you sent them as juicy little rats," Verdot cautioned.

"Yes but they're my juicy rats. I promise, no bodily harm Verdot – for now."

"Would care to share your methods?"

"No," Lyn seemed to sigh and Rude could picture the trail of smoke leaving her nostrils.

"My grace isn't eternal Lyn."

"Not even God's Grace is eternal Verdot. I'll handle the inquisition and things will be quiet for you again. For now the War is far more entertaining. When its settled I'll deal more finally with Hojo. Or maybe you'll get lucky."

"How so?"

"Maybe Xíhē will cut off my head."

"Last I checked it was a stake through the heart to finish your kind."

Lyn laughed and Verdot might have made an amused snort. Rude actually fell asleep before anything else was said.


	24. Reunion

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 24: Reunion

Reno braced on his knees panting. The pants men wore here tended to get in the way of moving around but it didn't stop him from asking Tiger boss for a few lessons in combat. He'd been assigned a fresh faced young man, ugly as a boot and tough as nails. For two days Reno had taken a beating as the young man snapped a wooden practice sword at him.

His name was Hanzo Ushinosuke. Buck toothed with bulging eyes fate had not been kind to him. With a wide forehead utterly exposed by the unruly hair pulled back severely in a restraining tie, Ushinosuke hardly looked threatening to anyone not stuck on the wrong end of an arranged marriage. His movements though were crisp, the ultimate manifestation of efficiency.

It hadn't sat well with Ushinosuke originally to train an injured Reno. He'd scowled at Reno, cautious to avoid any previous injuries and barely tapping him with the sword. In about fifteen minutes of this tedious babying Reno had managed to throw Ushinosuke into the dirt and plant a foot on his would-be teacher's chest, scowling down at him. Rather than angered Ushinosuke had bowed apologetically before picking himself up and proceeding to knock the snot out of his pupil.

"You're ridiculously good," Reno complained, looking up at Ushinosuke. As Reno sat there panting and drenched Ushinosuke hadn't managed to break a sweat. He stood on guard, wooden sword held perfectly still. He didn't speak any Midgarean but they managed to communicate. "Ok, I'm ready Ooshie," he uncurled despit the protests in his muscular system. Covered in dirt Reno hardly looked respectable.

"Yosh," Ushinosuke nodded in approval, settling further into his stance. Reno rolled his wrist, twisting the practice sword as he did so. Impatient Reno moved first, missing his opponent completely and landing back in the dirt. He laughed and sat scratching the back of his head.

Kaede said something from the veranda. Reno only caught the word 'eat' as she carried a tray delicately in her agile little hands. She set it down in the same smooth movement that sat her on her knees, folding those dove soft fingers in her lap. Dressed in pink and dark blue she was still stunning.

"Taberu Ooshie-san?" Reno asked.

"Hai!" Ushinosuke nodded resolutely. Everyone responded to him here like he'd given an order rather than made a friendly suggestion. It was still alien to Reno. Ushinosuke offered him a hand up and Reno accepted. He limped towards Kaede and groaned onto the veranda while she shot Ushinosuke a dirty look. The warrior lowered his eyes self consciously.

"Daijobu Kaede-san!" Reno flexed his bruised, bandaged and dirtied arms for her. He used the word he roughly understood as "ok". Kaede launched words at him as she slapped the sweat slick skin between his shoulders with a loud splat, her tone dripping with a reprimand. "Aya, easy toots. I'm okay," he laughed as her face crinkled.

Reno handed Ushinosuke a bowl of rice topped with green vegetables and meat cooked in some sort of tangy glaze. He took one for himself and clumsily began with the customary two sticks considered utensils in this corner of the world. Most of his meal consisted of keeping the bowl close and shoveling. Kaede kept pushing his bowl back down and rearranging the chop sticks unless they were at a formal meal with Tiger boss. Then she was quiet and unobserved unless first called upon to speak.

"Fine, here," Reno said after the third correction. He brought a morsel tremulously to his mouth. Kaede looked thrilled. At the last second he brought the bowl up next to it and shoveled until his cheeks were packed. Grinning as he chomped she made some exasperated noise in her pale throat. Ushinosuke was trying not to smile, his eyes flicking between them. He said something to Kaede and she crossed her arms. This just goaded Ushinosuke's smile into full bloom.

"One day very soon I'm gonna know what you two are saying," Reno promised looking at each of them significantly. "And then you can finally tell me everything you've been saying." Kaede just made a face at him and began eating delicately. Everything about her seemed delicate from the careful way she stepped to the curious way she felt compelled to pour out her heart to him. He didn't mind. The sound of her voice throughout the day or late in the night was soothing. She was his companion.

"Neko-san, you will want to be clean for your companions yes? I have received word they will arrive soon," Tiger boss startled the trio from behind. Reno twisted around to look at the powerful yakuza boss.

"Probably a good idea. I don't really care much what Lyn think but Verdot seems like a stickler," he nodded. Kaede picked a bit of rice from his chin. Tiger boss said something to her and she stood up with a nod.

"She will have a bath waiting when you have finished," Tiger boss explained. Reno nodded.

"Sure am gonna miss her across the lines," he sighed. Tiger boss smiled.

"There are many in Wutai who know her arts, Neko-san. She is just one low born courtesan. Pretty though and you have done much for her status here. The women whisper at the stories she has to tell them." Reno's face swirled scarlet instantly. Tiger boss laughed. He squatted and slapped Reno's shoulders. "Do not worry Neko-san. All she says have made the women envious. They are curious and a little afraid of foreigners. Now they all wish they had been eager for their duty and Kaede does not seem so stupid after all."

Ushinosuke said something beside him and Tiger boss answered. The swordsman gave him a crisp bow before hurrying away along the veranda in just his socks. Reno finished shoveling food in an attempt to smother his shyness. With another pat on his back Tiger boss departed presumably to manage preparations on the estate.

Reno handed the tray to a passing servant girl when he'd finished. He noticed the way she snuck glances at him from beneath her lashes. It brought the color back to his cheeks. Hurrying to the bathroom he found Kaede perched on the edge of the wooden tub picking flower petals apart wistfully, her face turned towards the open window as steam curled around her. She wore that face from time to time, sometimes late at night or when she thought he wasn't paying attention.

"Who is he?" Reno asked startling her. She dropped the half plucked flower into his bath water. Flashing an apologetic smile at him she fished it out. "You've been telling stories about me, Kaede," he accused with a shy smile and touched her nose with one finger like she did to him whenever he was embarrassed. "What's this guy you're always thinking about gonna think yo?"

Of course she didn't understand. She looked up at him thoughtfully. He wished for the millionth time they could actually talk. Stripping he settled back into the tub, leaning back where she sat. Kaede poured scented water over his shoulders and then onto his head. It was unexpectedly pleasant to have her fuss over his every need. In deed she had taken a sense of personal pride in his appearance. It must have been more posturing amongst the women.

Kaede was pensive as she worked. He noticed the way she pulled the hair away from his face and let it slide through her fingers and the way she kept running her knuckles along his neck and shoulders. His skin tingled, their impending separation with the promise of lonesome barracks making him hyper attuned to her every move. When he couldn't stand it any more he twisted around to face her. He didn't ask and she didn't seem to need asking.

Shortly afterwards he found himself a tidy parcel cleanly wrapped in a green jacket patterend with white leaves around the sleeves. Rather than the extremely loose pants he'd been tripping over for the duration of his stay he was in something more close fitting with strange socks that separated his big toe from the rest. Sandals were waiting for him at the front of the house as was the custom of Wutai. Kaede was gone and he doubted he would see her again anytime soon.

Verdot's voice was coming down the hallway talking rapid fire with whoever happened to be escorting him. Reno waited with Tiger boss, abstaining from the heady alcohol for fear that Lyn would send him straight back into the field. Tiger boss had no such considerations. The doors slid open as the escort – one of Tiger boss' older retainers if Reno remembered right – announced Verdot, Lyn, Tseng, and...

"Rude!" Reno leaped to his feet knocking over his cup. The blood drained from his face as he spotted the swollen, dirty, rumpled, foul smelling milano. He didn't see Verdot's jaw clench or Tiger boss frown. Reno didn't even realize he'd crossed the room until he was circling Rude and then his hand was closing around the unbuttoned throat of Lyn's shirt.

"What did you do?" he almost snarled, green eyes igniting. Lyn gave him her best shark smile.

"Glad you're happy to see him Red," she replied. He twisted the fabric drawing them closer together. "I think Wutai agrees with you," she took a deep breath of him.

"Neko-san, what is this in my house?" Tiger boss boomed startling Reno back into the moment. He released Lyn abruptly and turned, trying to keep his hands from shaking. While his thoughts scrambled to figure out Rude's place in all this – wearing Turk blues no less! – he looked at his current benefactor.

"Suprised my friend joined the Turks Tiger-boss," Reno shook his head. Tiger boss looked at Rude critically. Clouds gathered in his expression as he paused on Rude's eyes.

"Why did you bring this other boy here, Verdot-san? Is it your custom to send boys in all your dangerous work? He looks almost dead and smells as much," Tiger boss turned to Verdot now.

"He was returning from another assignment and met with us on the road here. Forgive us the impertenance of bringing him before you, Nakamura-sama, but as deliberations could take some time I didn't want him left outside in the jeep. He could use some medical attention."

"And how did he do in his work?" Nakamura asked.

"That's just it Nakamura-sama," Lyn answered. "He was sent to get you a gift." She nudged Rude forward. Rude took pains to bow from the waist first even though he barely looked capable of standing. Reno resisted the urge to take his friend's arm, fists clenched. Straightening out with obvious effort Rude crossed the wooden floors mechanically. Each foot fall thumped noisily. He reached beneath the collar of his shirt and extracted a set of beads before painfully dropping onto his knees.

"Please forgive the dirt," was all Rude said. The smallest vibrations ran along his outstretched, offering arms. Lyn shot another grin at Reno when she felt the acidic burn of his glare. Tiger boss accepted the beads for inspection. His breath caught almost immediately, almond eyes opening wide.

"Neko-san, ordinarily I would offer you the priveledge of joining the discussions to be had. However your friend deserves clean clothing and a rest. Take him and pick any of the women that please him to see that he is made comfortable after his work."

"Come on buddy," Reno darted to his side. Rude placed both palms on his knees before rising on will alone. Reno hovered close at hand, urging him back out of the chamber and down passages familiar to him now. "What the hell yo?" Reno hissed quietly as if expecting Lyn to emerge from the shadows somewhere.

"Joined the Turks."

Before he could stop himself Reno had jabbed Rude's arm reflexively. Rude almost whimpered, his hand closing around the abused spot. There was a gash on the side of his face where he'd been hit, presumably wearing his sun glasses. Now they were missing the faint glow of his honey eyes were striking.

"Trouble back home. Lyn helped," he answered.

"Dammit!" Reno moved to jam his hands into his pockets and realized there weren't any. With another frustrated grunt he ran several steps ahead. Throwing back the shoji to the room where most of the courtesans lounged about this hour he saw them turn like surprised geese. "Kaede!" he motioned to her. She set aside the flowers she'd been fussing to get right in a vase and hurried to him, brow pinched. "Help him, please," he motioned at Rude. Kaede's eyes widened.

Turning around Kaede suddenly barked orders at the other women, dispatching them with quick commands that set them into motion like butterflies. Their long sleeves and colorful robes fluttered, stocking feet drumming the floor mats like rain. Kaede hurried to Rude's side and took his arm. Her voice was soothing as she looked up into his face. Compared to the milano she was little more than a pale, porcelain doll. Rude let her lead him down the halls. Reno followed them into the bathroom and put his back to Rude as Kaede began pulling at his clothing.

"Ah, I'm okay," he tried to resist.

"Its what they do here," Reno assured him absently as his mind raced with possible happenings that could make Rude vulnerable to Lyn's talons. Kaede was still talking softly. Reno heard Rude capitulate and groan into the tub. There were other women rushing around the room, leaving things with Kaede and responding to her occaisional direction.

When things had settled and it was only the three of them Reno backed up and sat against the edge of the tub on the floor. He ran a hand through his hair.

"What happened?" he asked. Kaede stopped talking as soon as she heard Reno's voice.

"Lyn saved Beatrice," Rude summarized what must have been a much longer story. Reno waited. "Damien...they thought he was a spy. He was on leave and with a woman. I took Beatrice to the doctor, a head injury – "

"Head injury?" Reno probed softly figuring he already knew. He'd seen the welts before, the ones blooming across Rude's shoulders or moving in long stripes down his back.

"It was meant for me," Rude confirmed softly. "Someone came and interrogated me and Damien. I didn't have any disk, Reno." The water sloshed above and Reno imagined Rude pinching his nose bridge.

"Daijobu, daijobu desu," Kaede murmured but Reno knew better than to hope she was right.

"I gave them Lyn's name. I thought maybe she would make a deal."

"Damien?"

"We both went to the doctor...I was able to leave again." Rude's voice was barely a whisper.

"And Beatrice?"

"Broken. Simple."

Reno stared out the window at too bright sunlight and the man made peace of the garden. He felt the familiar squeeze of loss around his heart. Rude wasn't supposed to get tangled up in all of this. Reno was supposed to make oodles of money and drag him up to the Plates later.

"I'm sorry," Reno managed at last when he didn't think his voice would break.

"There was no disk Reno," Rude repeated softly. "No disk. Damien's not – wasn't – a traitor. Beatrice..." his voice caught. "Beatrice," he tried again to no avail. Reno curled his fingers around the edge of the tub and felt his knuckles against Rude's arm. They sat absolutely silent but for Rude's deep breaths and the soft sound of Kaede working.

"Neko-san," Kaede whispered at his side after a long time. He looked up from his daze. She pointed into the tub. Levering himself up Reno saw Rude's eyes closed, head tipped back on the wooden edge. The rise and fall of his chest and the relaxation of the muscles around his eyes indicated he was soundly asleep.

Reno helped Kaede get Rude out of the tub which was a considerable feat. Rude had thirty pounds of muscle and quite a bit of height on Reno. Rude came around just enough to assist getting himself to bed.

"My jacket," he slurred from amidst his pillows. Reno doubled back for it. Rude broke free of Kaede's tending long enough to reach into a breast pocket and hold out a box wrapped in cellophane. "I understand they're hard to find here," he tried a smile as Reno stared down at the box of Sol Sunbursts. He was glad Rude was unconscious again in the next thirty seconds or he might have spotted the moisture rimming Reno's eyes.

"Arigato Kaede," he smiled for her and turned away. He stalked out onto the veranda and sank down against a pillar, the cigarettes clutched in one hand.

"They ain't gonna smoke themselves," Lyn advised in the evening that had crept up on him suddenly. Reno jumped and looked back at her. She sat down next to him sucking on a Junon Jezebel. Taking his pack she packed the tobacco against one palm and tore open the wrapping. With a practiced hand she lit one against the ember of her own and held it out.

Once it was in his fingers Reno had gone through it in what seemed only a few drags. Lyn chuckled and lit another for him. She settled against the same pillar at a ninety degree angle, their shoulders touching.

"All roads lead to you toots," Reno said after a few minutes.

"Does that make me death or taxes?"

"I think you might be death collecting taxes." She chuckled. "Hey Lyn?"

"Red?"

"Who questioned Damien?"

"Don't lose sleep there. He's already been handled."

"Who said Damien was a traitor?"

"He was. I looked into it. The girl he was out with that night, the 'random' hook up at the bar, my boys back home caught her red handed with the data. Damien's fingerprints were all over it."

They smoked quietly together as Reno mulled this over.

"I'll kill whoever you want, do whatever you want, if you let Rude go."

"I know," Lyn answered quietly. "Trouble is you can't give me anything I don't already have. You've got no more chips, Red."

"He's not like us," Reno shook his head.

"Some of us Turks are out for vengeance, some because takin' life pays a helluva lot better than anything else, and some of us just have a taste for blood. A very few actually believe all the Shin-Ra horse shit. Any way you slice it we're all fucked up and Rude's no exception. At least here he's got a shot."

"If he breaks...if he breaks I'll kill you Lyn," Reno vowed softly.

"Take a number."


	25. Discord

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

**A/N:** It's been about two years for Reno and Rude since the last chapter.

Chapter 25: Discord

"Hold still you Woot bastard!" Reno yelled as he crashed into the wall where Tseng had been only a second before. There was a sharp pain in his ribs before Reno was face down in the ground squirming indignantly.

"You waste energy that way," Tseng cautioned calmly as he straightened a shirt cuff. Reno pushed himself up when Tseng removed the foot that had been pinning him. Shaking off the uncouth introduction with the dirt Reno hopped back to his feet and tried again. This ended in much the same way except Reno was in a headlock instead.

"Try actually paying attention to what I'm doing," Tseng advised upon releasing him. Reno huffed back up to his feet.

"That'll do," Lyn sailed through the middle of their session, one sleeve burned clean off and blisters rising along the curved muscles. The other hand was bloody to the elbow, her fingers curled around what looked like a dispatch. "Tseng find Verdot, Red bring me whoever's in charge of the Bugs still here in Sa Gong right now. Blake! Get your kit!" she hollared into their much improved headquarters settled in what was once an Inn. Besmirched in grime and practically still smoking she stormed through the doors with bellicose orders.

Reno bolted down the street for the SOLDIER HQ now moved into what had once been Imperial barracks. Lyn called them Lighting Bugs, or just Bugs for short for the glow of their eyes so akin to the insects that came out in the night.

"Hey Ham! Who's the boss?" Reno asked as he ducked by the SOLDIERs standing at the front doors. They had long ago given up forbidding him entrance after he'd gotten good at infiltrating their HQ and heaping trouble on the unobservant guard. Hammond looked up from the radios he seemed perpetually doomed to man.

"Grim's with Rude out back," Hammond pointed before resuming the delicate operation of fixing a particularly fussy satellite connection.

"Thanks!" Reno called to the enlisted and threw aside the shoji – the word for the sliding doors – to see a ring of spectators. Most were SOLDIERS and a few were Fenrirs or enlisted. In the center was Grim, circling carefully around Rude.

In a sudden contraction of muscle they clashed with shuddering blows that ignored any pretense of defense. Shouts of encouragement peppered the crowd, most of them all too pleased to root against a Turk. The rivalvry between the different units was all well and good but Reno had learned very quickly that Turks were looked down upon as little more than thugs. The very nature of Turk assignments gave him a surprisingly free hand and men with 'proper' military training seemed to hate that.

Grim backed off as Rude got up after being knocked down on one knee. Spitting blood into the kicked up dirt Rude stood, squaring his torso so his knees and elbows would have shorter trajectories to their hopeful targets. Two years had applied liberal ropes of iron sinew to Rude's broad shoulders without turning him into a barrel chested bull dog like his father.

"He's getting good," Hammond said from beside Reno.

Rude miscalculated and caught an elbow across the face. He went down with the snap of his jaw forced shut and his eyes rolled back in his head.

"Not good enough," Reno pursed his lips. Hammond laughed.

"Yeah but he's up to about four rounds with Grim. I've never seen somebody outside SOLDIER take a beating like that and walk again."

"Toxic waste," Reno tapped the corner of one Mako eye. Hammond's attention glanced off it like a skipped stone.

"Here, for Verdot from the Captain," he passed Reno a disc, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Think he'll get up again?" the Mowhawk SOLDIER named Darcy toed Rude's shoulder. Reno inserted himself into the crowd, hands in his pockets.

"Yo," he greeted the surprised knot of uniforms. Grim was the only one unperturbed. "Lyn found something out there in the wilds."

"I thought she was in the capitol," Grim inquired without actually asking. Reno shrugged.

"Hair's on fire over something," he answered before squatting so he could pat Rude's cheek. "Hey, wake up in there," he called.

"Yeah, your wife's here to get you!" Darcy jibed overhead.

"Can't get a day of honest work out of him," Reno sighed effeminately. "Rude. Ruuuude," he sing-songed in a higher octive than normal. Rude's eyelashes fluttered as his honey brown eyes suddenly rolled back into place. He stared up at Reno. "Hello there darling."

Rude sat up rubbing his jaw. Dirt clung to the sweat on his back.

"Tomorrow?" he asked Grim.

"Lyn I think has other plans," Grim shook his head. "Hammond, mind things," he called to the technician.

"Sir!" Hammond saluted, catching his elbow on a pillar supporting the roof over the veranda. He winced and Grim's phantom smile appeared. Reno would have made a quip but he liked Hammond. Nervous, awkward, mechanically inclined Hammond was inexplicably charming.

"I've got your coat and shirt dearest," Reno anticipated Rude's search for them, holding out a kerchief to help stem the blood still flowing from Rude's nose. Rude wadded the cloth beneath it. Immediately it soaked up a vibrant red hue. Reno finished his 'wifely' duty by putting the sun glasses delicately in their place on his old friend's face.

"Thangs," Rude managed around blood and congestion. He stood and followed Grim back into the SOLDIER HQ and out into the street.

"Ta boys," Reno waved cheerily. "You're so cool," he grinned at Rude as he caught up. Rude seemed to flinch at the praise.

"Cool yet?" he pulled the cloth away.

"No, that's not cool yet yo. But the fight was," he pushed the kerchief right back where it had been before more blood could dribble down Rude's chest.

"Perhaps you should like to join us sometime?" Grim asked with a glance over his shoulder.

"No thanks. I'm not quite a stud cake like this guy," Reno slapped Rude's back. "I think Lyn beats me up with a mind to my future use where you practically disfigured me last time for kicks, Lieutenant."

"Her hand is too lax with you," Grim chastised with a shake of his head. Reno just smiled as he wondered if Grim knew half as much about killing as Lyn knew about causing pain. A hand to hand brawl was something Turks were advised against. Their strength was the gathering of information by any means necessary and exacting the more delicate intrigues that could make or break allies and enemies respectively.

Lyn was sitting with her head thrown back against a chair as a medic minded the burns on her arm. The other bloody hand still clutched the dispatch. At their approach her eyes opened so only one lethal sliver of amber was visible. Tseng set a tumbler of dark rum before her and settled into a chair at Verdot's side. He looked immaculate as ever despite the earlier sparring with Reno. Of course that could have been due to Reno never landing a single hit but who was counting?

"Message from the Bug Captain boss," Reno held out the disk Hammond had given him to Verdot. The older man with a scar up along his cheek accepted it. Grim shot Reno a look that could only be called irritation by the shift of muscle in his temple.

"Sit," Verdot motioned at Grim before tucking the intel into his suit jacket. Reno and Rude settled in their usual chairs at the far end of the round table. Reno struck a match and lit his cigaret as Rude shrugged his shirt on in the pretense of civility.

Verdot held his hand out and Lyn finally relinquished her prize. A growl rumbled up through her as her eyes fixed on Grim. "I understand the particulars of our roles in this war differ Grim but I should expect that SOLDIER can look to the common good," Verdot began.

"Am I to understand this is an inquisition? I came at the behest of your red poodle understanding you had recovered some crucial information." Grim crossed his arms and looked forbiddingly at Verdot, pointedly ignoring Lyn. She closed her eyes in seeming indifference but one bloody index finger tapped at the ankle resting on her knee.

"I know perfectly well you are only following the orders of your superiors Grim," Verdot replied. "But at this juncture _four_ Turks are dead because SOLDIER used them as bait in a trap."

"The function of the Turks is espionnage, is it not?" Grim's fingers laced as he rested his hands primly on the table. "You cannot blame my men if yours cannot play their assigned game correctly and wind up casualties after botching an assignment."

"This wasn't a joint assignment, you Woot turncoat," Lyn sat up slowly. She pulled her arm from the old medic so she could lay both palms flat on the table. Leaning forward she glared at Grim as he continued calmly ignoring her. "This was a Turk operation your men wound up bumbling into. You cost me Xíhē's head. Do you understand what that means?"

"The report I received indicated that your men were already under attack when mine came across them."

"They weren't even supposed to be in that part of the city," Lyn hissed. "Not only did they come in guns blazing but they killed almost thirty of our Yakuza allies _and_ rerouted our explosives against us in a fire fight that brought half the elite guards stationed in the city down on our heads!"

"All the more reason to leave such operations in the hands of SOLDIER. We have the skill and manpower to see them to completion," Grim barbed finally turning to look at her.

"If all it needed was the application of muscle Wutai would've fallen eight years ago Woot Fly!" Lyn snarled, her chair grinding back as she stood. Grim's hands rested on his knees and he looked half ready to spring to his feet himself, a dark look edging his usual serenety.

"Muzzle your bitch Verdot or you will need a new one to mind the welps," Grim threatened. "But then again you are not even worthy of keeping the bed of a man. You are just the dreggs of a blue veined house brought so low that they lick the boots of their oppressors."

The table cracked as Lyn's shoe slammed it into Grim's midriff. Grim wrenched it out of the way as both Tseng and Verdot pulled pistols out of their shoulder holsters. Verdot had the barrel tip pressed between Grim's eyes as Tseng grasped Lyn's shoulder with cold steel pressing beneath her jaw.

"Enough," Verdot intoned. Reno realized he had instinctively assumed Lyn's flank, electricity humming through his night stick. Rude was behind her, one restraining hand clenched over the green Materia pulsing in the burned fist. "Insults aside there is serious business at hand. We have plenty dead and an angry Empress to concern us, nevermind the diplomatic backlash of Yakuza reaction to their preceived use as bait. Grim, what I need is the informant who altered the course of your patrol. Don't make me go through the chain of command or I promise your choice position as Lieutenant is given to someone else. There are many capable SOLDIERS."

"You are little more than a fly in the ear of the Captain," Grim sneered as he sat, arms crossed.

"Sephiroth may have no love for me but he understands the value of my department and the sway I possess with the President and his pet scientist Hojo. _Do not_ cross me, _Lieutenant_."

Lyn snatched the cigaret still hanging beween Reno's inattentive lips. She took a long drag as she righted her overturned chair. Reno remained at her side, eyes fixed on Grim. Lyn and Grim were hard to reconcile but they usually got along better than this. The malevolence crackling between them at present was so potent Reno felt it like a chill. His chips were on Grim winning any confrontation without breaking a sweat – SOLDIERS were just that way – but he'd be damned if the man would walk away without a scratch.

"As for you Lyn you're at HQ until that arm heals. Reno, Rude, I need you to work the Yakuza. Coax them back into the fold. You go with them Tseng. I'll mind the interrogation here with Lyn."

"Sir," Tseng gave a curt nod.

"Dismissed," Verdot waved them away.

"Red, you stay," Lyn commanded as Blake set his wrinkeld fingers to work again on her burns. Grim swept out of the room without so much as a backward glance. Rude hesitated.

"Let's find you a potion," Tseng suggested.

"I won't eat him," Lyn growled at Verdot who lingered in the door after Tseng and Rude.

"In this mood I'm not sure," he answered. Smoke poured out of her nostrils as she stared at him dispassionately. Their boss raised his organic hand in pacification, the Shin-Ra prosthetic tucked behind his back just like a real one. "If anything happens to Grim in the next two weeks you'll both find yourselves scrubbing SOLDIER latrines."

"They say vengeance is better cold yo," Reno shrugged, hands stuffed in his pockets. Verdot sent him a crippling glare. "Chances are I won't be back for a month boss. Last time Tiger-boss had me I wound up dug in like a tick three cities away. There won't be any time for trouble, none at all yo," he corrected. Verdot pinched his nose bridge.

"Just reassure them of our alliance," Verdot instructed.

"Can I offer up what's left of the informant? Woots like first hand accounts."

"I'll have him delivered to the Nakamura estate."

Verdot retreated before anything else could be demanded of him. Reno turned now to look at Lyn contemplating the splintered table, idly rolling the spent cigarette between two fingers. He tried to picture her a blue blood, see her sitting in a dress with her gray hair curling around her shoulders. Had it always been gray he wondered? Try as he might she could manifest as nothing but the hardened Turk before him.

"So," Reno drawled dragging a chair up beside her. He straddled it and fished out two new cigarettes. "What's up toots?"

"I missed her by this much," she held her thumb and fore finger a hair's bredth apart. "Because a goddamn SOLDIER knocked her knees out from under her." Reno offered her a new smoke which she accepted without looking at him. "The Sun Sect is about ready to break ties with Wutai. We've practically lit a civil war in their guts," she changed subjects abruptly. "The Empress is holding her side together and the Emperor his. I just need one more public break to happen and then it'll all come crashing to the ground."

"Like what?" Reno perched his chin on his arms, hunched over the chair back.

"Emperor Godo has this sister," Lyn leaned back in her chair. "Part of the mythos behind Leviathan deals with a bride. She has to come from the family of the person intended to control the Water Dragon. Legend goes she ensures that Leviathan stays true to his master and that his master is careful to select a proper sacrifice every year or the 'bride' gets it and Leviathan can't be summoned."

"So you want me to off the sister?" Reno tried to anticipate her order as she fell silent, cigarette smoking between two fingers as she ran her thumb along her jaw.

"No. Even the Sun Sect respects the potential terror of having a dissatisfied Leviathan no longer happy with his master. Nobody would believe they were the murderers."

"Will that really make Leviathan unstable?"

"I doubt it. I've heard of other summons and they don't seem to need blood sacrifice. Ifrit doesn't so far as I know. But the fact is that the Woots believe it. Perception is everything Red." Lyn took a long drag and popped her jaw to make a smoke ring. Her eyes flicked to the work on her arm. "I've heard that the 'bride' has a powerful connection to Leviathan though. All I want you two to do is unhinge her. Corrupt the 'bride' and you'll corrupt the water snake."

"And how do I do that?" Reno rubbed the back of his neck. Lyn patted her pockets. She grumbled a curse.

"Hand me my coat," she nodded at the wadded up material. Reno did as she asked wondering how she even managed to keep it with her. Outside of Midgar she seemed determined to ignore proper dress code, not that he was particular about his rumpled shirts and missing tie. She fished in a pocket and extracted a small syringe with glimmering saffron fluid. "R&D came up with this beauty. Its an experemental sort of Materia that can cause temporary madness and distort perceptions. Inject her with it and I'm banking on it addling her mind indefinately."

"Effective," Reno nodded as he accepted the syringe in its case. He secured it inside his jacket and hoped it would be up to the arduous trek through Wutai. "Where do I find this sister?"

"Kisaragi Akemi resides in the great Pagoda itself," Lyn studied his face.

"If I had anyone to leave anything to I'd write a will."

"I put myself down as your beneficiary," Lyn assured him. Reno grinned as he ran his knuckles along his stubble. It had only been in the last six months he'd needed to worry about shaving. "Patch things up with the Yakuza first and when you're through make your way to the capitol. Captain Bug himself is minding the seige there. He'll at least be able to make a diversion so you can get yourself in and if luck has it you might be able to get his troops inside to boot."

Reno groaned as he imagined working directly with Sephiroth. So far he had somehow managed to avoid another encounter since the whole Pearl fiasco. He hadn't forgotten Sephiroth's promise of evening the score.

"Sure thing toots," he managed to sigh. "You want some fries with that?"

"I would kill someone for fries," she slumped against the chiar as her head rolled back. Reno studied the sinews in her neck and tried to find a blue blood again. "Corsigg," Lyn said. Reno blinked at her. "That's my last name."

"You have a last name?"

"I don't use it but to collect my paycheck. Apparently 'Lyn' ain't all that uncommon a name. You want to know what Grim said."

"I don't really care," Reno shrugged. "But I'm havin' a helluva time putting you in a dress and curls yo."

"So did my mother," Lyn chuckled.

"I'm going then toots," Reno lifted a hand. Lyn only grunted at him, aparently spent. He emerged into the hallway and only advanced a few paces before Rude seemed to melt out of the shadows in a perfectly kept suit. "C'mon. We're gonna go see Kaede," he rubbed his hands together.

"You have an addiction," Rude accused.

"Its mostly work related. Mostly," Reno looked up at him pleadingly. "She's the patron goddess of Yakuza gatherings you know." Rude didn't even bother looking back at the pitiable expression. "I knew you'd agree. You're just the very best husband."

"Agree to what?" Tseng demanded as they emerged into the sunshine. He was carefully arranging goggles so as to avoid ruining his perfect pony tail. Reno resisted the urge to pull it as he recalled Tseng's reflexive tendency to dislocate the shoulders attached to mischeivous hands.

"We're going to see Kaede," Reno answered. Tseng was already opening his mouth to object. "Tiger-boss and the other five family heads are way too proud to consent to meeting in one family house but Kaede's is totally neutral. Besides, a little sake, some good women, and maybe they'll want to listen to what we've got to say. The Prez can pay a little suck up money and _you_ have the strings to Verdot's corporate spending account yo."

Tseng visibly grimmaced at the outrageous breach in money management. He stood beside his bike brooding for several moments as Reno and Rude settled on theirs. At length he sighed.

"It is truly demoralizing when your ideas are good," Tseng seemed to wilt onto his bike.

"I love it when you talk rough."


	26. One Hundred Eyes

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 26: One Hundred Eyes

Rude felt the petal soft fingertips on his shoulder before he realized anyone was behind him. He jerked up and around off the veranda, his fists halfway up to offensive before he recognized the woman. Kaede gave him her dazzling smile, delicate ornaments arranged in her elaborate coiffeure and her beautiful azure kimono with golden cranes folding down around her in perfect creases and curves.

"You're getting better, Daru-sama," she informed him in the closest approximation of his name she could manage.

"Not good enough," he replied in careful Wutain as he relaxed and came towards her. "I did not hear you, Kaede-san."

She smiled as she reached forward and pinched the nose piece of his sunglasses. She removed them and artfully folded them as her fingers closed around them like a flower.

"Your eyes are so beautiful. It's a shame you're so quick to cover them up." Kaede settled on her knees looking out into her gardens, beautifully kept with giant koi in the ponds and bursting peonies enjoying the warm May night. The cherry trees had already shed their delicate pink blooms Rude reflected, spotting their small forms in the silver moonlight. He could hear a woman laugh somewhere nearby. "Its good to have a full house. I love this time of night." Kaede breathed in deeply as she closed her eyes. "Its a time for secrets and sharing. I like the way the dark folds around us and we don't have to pretend anymore. Everything here is about pretending you know. But once its dark and the sake has taken root men are themselves and for once, women can move them about as they please. Liberating in my opinion."

"We are simple creatures," Rude offered her half a smile as he sat next to her. She drew herself up firmly and clenched one small fist over her heart.

"It is all honor and manliness, the complicated and delicate matters of court, politics, and war. You silly women in all your silk could not understand it so busy yourself with pretty things to make our evenings pleasant," she intoned in as deep a voice as she could manage. Her serious expression melted away in a laugh. "Pull all of that away from a man and he is simple. Sometimes athletic, but simple yes."

"And woman?" Rude indulged her.

"The pursuit of beauty and admiration. That's all we crave," she shrugged as her hands folded again. She looked over her gardens thoughtfully. "Pleasure and beauty. That's all we are Daru-sama, all that men and women come down to. This war is a silly fight fabricated in daylight idleness. If everything was darkness and dedicated to beauty and pleasure there would hardly be time or energy for things like Mako and Materia. But then again it was Neko-sama that came with war and brought me this place." She held out her hands as if to catch snow. "Not to mention my good friend Daru-sama," she added with a flirtatious glance beneath her lashes.

"You pick bad friends," Rude teased so she would laugh. She obliged.

"Yakuza and Turks. Its so much more than I could have gotten as a poor farmer's daughter. Selling me was the kindest thing they ever did. Thank Leviathan I caught Nakamura-sama's eye." Her thoughts drifted away from him as they tended to now that he understood and could respond. "Why haven't you picked one of my girls Daru-sama? If you need a recommendation Neko-chan has tried them all."

"That is why," Rude answered resolutely and she laughed again.

"Come then there's a girl," she scooted closer to him rather childishly, seeming to forget her expensive silk robes and status as the matron of the finest house of courtesans outside of the capitol. "Come and tell mama-san," she coaxed in the same tone she used with her girls.

"None, mama-san," he replied. Her eyes narrowed as she stared up into his.

"It can't be Neko-chan or surely you would have killed him by now. Fidelity isn't in his nature," she tapped her chin with one pink fingernail ponderously.

"But mama-san, who covets their wife?" he inquired much to her amusement.

"No one in Wutai or I'd go broke," she agreed mirthfully. "So you plan to spend the night alone again Daru-sama? All these girls and not even one is beautiful enough to catch your eye?" Kaede turned his sunglasses over in her hands as she searched him for some kind of tell. Rude only smiled and held out his hand in a silent request. With a sigh Kaede returned the glasses. "I'll find her one day, a girl that'll turn your head. And I'll find the girl that won't turn Neko-chan's head. They'll be quite a pair I think."

"Just dress up Lyn," Rude suggested. Kaede wrinkled her nose.

"Please, don't give me nightmares," she begged. Rising fluidly she folded her little hands inside the graceful sleeves of her kimono. "You're sure about that empty bed in there," she nodded in the direction of the futon turned down on tatami mats. Rude shrugged. She sighed into a breeze that skittered across his partially bare chest, his shirt unbuttoned to ease the sultry Wutai heat. Kaede turned to leave and hesitated.

"Daru-sama," she said softly as she pattered back to his side. She dropped onto her knees so her fingers could curl around his rolled up sleeves. "I think its foolish of me to mention something so trivial but its stuck in my mind. Did you know there was a civil war here, just a little while before this war now?"

"For the throne," he nodded.

"Right, for the throne. The Emperor, he cut down the original heir in war and slit the throats of those allied to him in cold blood later." Kaede hesitated, rubbing the material in his shirt between her thumb and forefinger. She bit her painted lower lip as her eyes flashed up to him. "They say he killed his favorite general too, the one that helped him most in the war. His name was Koiso Seiichirou. I've heard whispers about a demon lurking in Wutai with one hundred eyes." Kaede leaned in closer so her sweet breath was on his neck. "They called Koiso Bai Yan in the local dialect. They called him 'hundred eyes'."

"So he did not die?" Rude prompted her to continue, not certain he understood. Kaede chewed on her lower lip.

"It is the Yakuza who fear his return, not the Imperials. Please look out for his mark, that of a bird with many eyes in its long tail feathers."

"I will watch, Kaede-san," he promised her. Kaede laced her fingers over one of his shoulders and leaned her forehead into it.

"Please be careful. The Shin-Ra think they have the Yakuza and that Wutai will fall into place sooner or later. We're made different Daru-sama, so very different. Bai Yan, if its Bai Yan, he'll still kill for the Emperor. In Wutai we go willingly to die for our lords because that's called honor. If the lord asks we kill ourselves in rituals."

"Why are you afraid?" Rude asked. He felt her fingers tighten.

"I don't know. But there's this fear that sits in my chest like stone. This war is very far from over and I don't want you to die. You and Neko-chan, you're very precious to me."

Rude shifted so she could settle against his chest. There she remained silent, listening to the soft thud of his heartbeat. As proprietess she was expected to manage the affairs of the house rather than entertain her guests unless she was truly interested in the particulars of a certain patron. That was how she'd come to frequent Rude's company when he and Reno visited her place on business or for Reno to burn through most of his paycheck spoiling Kaede and his favorite girls. Rude's nights with Kaede usually ended in her losing a game of Go or her continuous stream of chatter into the wee hours as she fussed over new compositions on her Shamisan. This uncertainty was unnerving.

"If Bai Yan is here somewhere we will find him," Rude promised after several long minutes.

"Maybe that's why I'm afraid," she sighed sitting up. Checking her hair she got to her feet again. "Sleep Daru-sama. Tomorrow deliberations begin officially after three days of Shin-Ra paid revelry. The Yakuza might be softened up but their pride is still ferocious. You'll need your wits."

"Yes mama-san," he nodded and watched her smile. She gave him a little bow before departing wordlessly.

There wasn't much sleep to be had once she was gone however. Rude lay awake contemplating the weight of her words, wondering how to go about investigating something like whispers of a hundred eyed demon. Wutai's strangely layered customs and stiff formalities were hard for him to master although Reno seemed to have no problem blending with the Yakuza at least superficially. Rude found them unnecessarily brutal and excessively proud although the women were some of the most compelling he'd ever encountered.

When dawn finally colored the sky Rude gave up pretending to sleep. He bathed in merciful solitude before the communal baths could fill up with tattooed, noisy Yakuza boasting about the previous night's activities. Making his way to breakfast he wasn't surprised Tseng had somehow managed to arrive first. He sipped quietly at a bowl of miso soup and picked over a few assorted foods and rice.

"You look tired," he remarked without disdain as Rude took a seat at his right.

"Its hot," he shrugged, accepting his breakfast from a serving girl. She was new and seemed hard pressed to resist the urge to touch his dark skin. The people of Wutai seemed convinced the excess pigment could be rubbed off and ran their fingers impersonally on his skin as if to test for dust on furniture.

"I hope you'll be on your toes for negotiations." Tseng laid his chopsticks across his empty rice bowl so he could sip some tea.

"Don't be so critical," Reno yawned as he appeared on Rude's other side. "Things'll go fine. Verdot sent us a present last night. Kaede's cleaning him up right now."

"Why did you leave her alone with him?" Tseng half rose. Reno leaned across the table and slopped egg, fish and pickled vegetables into his rice bowl.

"Lyn ran the interrogations yo," he shrugged his shoulders. "Just singing wouldn't have spared that canary after he ruined her shot at the Empress." Tseng sat back down as Rude considered the absurdity of any thought that Reno would leave Kaede in danger. "He just has to talk to the Yakuza and they'll be more interested in dealing with his boss than considering how to screw us yo."

Something wriggled around in Rude's mind but he couldn't place it. Instead he served himself with considerably more finesse than Reno.

"I figure things'll be wrapped up pretty quick here yo. Lyn set us out with orders once the Yakuza are happy Tseng. Think we can cut out before nightfall."

"I hate to ask but do you have any sort of plan?" Tseng inquired lacing his fingers.

"Carry out my orders," Reno shrugged. Tseng closed his eyes in search of patience. "Relax. We'll handle our end. I'm sure Verdot has you doing something else important. Wasn't that you that weaseled out the info that broke the seige in Fune two months ago?"

"I'm not questioning your ability to fulfill orders Reno," Tseng shook his head, completely unfazed by the praise. "I'm more interested in your long term survival. You're a good Turk and it'd be troublesome to replace you if you get killed over nothing."

"I had no idea you felt that way," Reno looked at him seriously. "But I've already found me a good strong man Tseng." He landed a solid pat on Rude's back, making the milano drop his bit of pickled radish back into the rice bowl.

"Talking about dresses with Lyn would be a far better use of my time," Tseng sighed as he stood. Reno snickered around a mouthfull of breakfast.

"Kaede isn't sleeping well," Reno announced in Midgarean after Tseng's absence. It was only the pair of them and the new serving girl throwing Rude curious sidelong glances. "Has she said anything to you?"

"There's a hundred eyed demon in Wutai," Rude replied softly before sipping at his soup. "A ghost of the civil war working against us."

"Why a ghost?" Reno cocked his head. "The Imperials need every ally they can get. The Bugs are only getting stronger in the field and we take more cities every month."

"The Emperor betrayed him. Kaede thinks he'll still be loyal. The implication I guess is that he can't be visible without some trophy to get him back in the good graces off his old boss."

"Well that's not good," Reno said flatly. The serving girl appeared at their elbows suddenly to refill the tea cups. She was maybe thirteen. Her perfectly black eyes flashed between he and Reno, not sure whether she was more taken with Rude's dark complexion or Reno's impossibly red hair.

"Have ya eaten?" Reno drawled in accented Wutain. She jumped at being adressed, the little buns on either side of her head seeming to fray at such a sudden movement. Her pale cheeks flushed and she hurried to pull a stray piece of hair back from its errant escape onto her forehead.

"I'm so sorry sir. I just thought your hair was so beautiful. I'm not hungry. Forgive me for staring," she stammered in a tiny voice, backing away with the tea pot hugged to her chest.

"Oh ya? What's yer name kid?"

"Sumire, sir," she buoyed up and down in nervous humility.

"Ya, I think yer gonna grow right into that pretty name Sumire," Reno gave her a full smile. Her cheeks turned a stunning color of red and Rude could immediately picture her full grown. "I got a proposition fer ya Sumire. Ya bring me three moon cakes from Kaede's secret stash and I will do a favor fer ya in return. Whatever ya want."

"A-anything?" Sumire's eyes went round.

"Yup," he nodded. She shifted her weight from foot to foot uncertainly. Putting down the tea pot she scampered to the shoji.

"Anything," she reiterated with a skeptical look over her shoulder.

"Ya lady," Reno repeated cheerfully. In one fluid movement Sumire was out and away down the hallway. "Think he'd have anything to do with the guy that foiled Lyn's plans? Maybe a rat?"

"Could be," Rude shrugged. Reno perched his chin on one hand as they sat considering this angle.

"Hundred eyes huh," he drawled after a moment.

"Kaede said his mark was a bird with eyes in long tail feathers."

"Tattoo probably. Guess we'll have to figure out who was on what side in the civil war and who might know about these Hundred Eyes."

"I'll get in touch with Lyn," Rude stood up. Sumire chose that moment to throw open the shoji again and come tumbling in with a red dyed tin. Setting it down she popped the lid to expose the delicate cakes resting just inside.

"Moon cakes," she insisted. Reno took a huge bite of one, smiling. He handed one to Rude and offered the last to Sumire.

"What can I do fer ya?" he asked.

"I heard...I heard them say that you bought Kaede-sama's contract from Nakamura-sama and made her a free woman," Sumire clenched her hands and stared at her knuckles.

"Woman can't keep her mouth shut," Reno mumbled in Midgarean. He looked away as the faintest blush rose in his face.

"If that's true and you're really Kaede-sama's gaurdian, will you please get back a token I...that I lost? It was very precious to her and I lost it."

"Lost it huh?" Reno prompted as his curiosity supplanted his embarrassment.

"Its a hair pin made from iron. She let me wear it and I didn't take it out when I went into market. Men were gathered at the tea shop and they hit me when they saw it."

"Why?" Reno's head tilted to one side. Sumire wrung her hands.

"They said only Princess Shou Yang could still wear such a mark. When I tried to keep them from taking it away..." her voice trailed off as she took a corner of her little pink kimono and scrubbed it across her forhead. The rice based make up women in Wutai used to lighten their complexion rubbed away to expose a burn scar in the shape of a flower. "This is what it looks like. I tried asking the tea shop man but he only shook his head and sent me away. One of those men must still have it, I know it! Will you please bring it back for her?"

Reno touched the mark on Sumire's forehead. She flinched and looked away. Rude watched the way Reno's jaw set in resolve and knew there were some men who were going to be very sorry they took the time to burn a little girl's face. Rude realized he'd clenched his hands.

"What tea shop?"

"The big one along the Hibiki River," her eyes brightened.

"Eat yer Moon Cake," Reno suggested, taking another bite of his. "I go must working now. When I come back I going see Tea man," he smiled as his Wutain grammar fell apart, his thoughts zeroing in on the emporium and the 'best' way of extracting his desired information.

"Aya! Why are you bringing bad luck down on my house Neko-chan?" Kaede demanded suddenly from behind them. As Rude turned he heard the decorative fan she was carrying 'thock' against Reno's skull. "Moon cakes are for the Moon _Festival_! Don't teach my cute little Sumire your terrible manners!"

"Woman! Can't a man have his cake and eat it too?" Reno demanded in Midgarean.

"No cake eat!" Kaede repeated in Midgarean, smacking him a second time before clamping the lid over the tin. Rude bent and picked Sumire up as she sat in shock at such a breech in honorable protocol.

"Time to escape," he advised, carrying her with him out of the room.

"Is it bad luck?" Sumire's forehead wrinkled, the patterned bean cake with an egg center resting in her palms delicately.

"Nope," Rude took a pointed bite of his cake. Sumire hesitated a moment more before indulging. The Moon Festival was still months away. Kaede specifically kept Moon Cakes on hand just so she and Reno could argue about them.

Rude felt Sumire's little hand touch his smooth shaven jaw. Her thumb worked as if to rub away the pigment, just as he'd thought she wished to try. He paid it no mind and she went back to eating her cake.

Dropping her off with some of the other women he located Tseng chatting with two retainers from one of the five main Yakuza families. He came to stand a respectful distance in Tseng's line of sight so his superior could finish.

"Yes?" he prompted when the retainers bowed and moved towards the grand hall where the meeting would be held.

"I'd like to speak with Lyn. I don't know the impact or veracity of rumors but she might look into them while she's stuck at HQ." He took a moment to summarize Kaede's previous statement and Tseng nodded. He extended the sleek black portable phone with the latest security. Tseng ranked just high enough to carry one.

"Are they back in the fold?" Lyn growled across the line.

"Soon," Rude replied.

"You've got thirty seconds. Raise," she added to someone on the other end.

"Bai Yan. Koiso Seiichirou."

"Tyco take my hand. If you lose with this you're on latrines," Lyn snapped. There was shuffling before Lyn seemed to escape the confines of her game. "Why does that name matter?" she asked when she seemed to be alone.

"Something I hear worries the Yakuza," Rude answered. "Should it?"

"Yes and no." Her lighter flicked in the background. "He's dead. Should be. If he's not that's trouble. Word is Godo had him executed for coveting Xīhé before Godo had her in the bag. He's the reason Godo won the civil war and even if the good General was still alive his goal would be assisting the Empire for the Empress' sake."

"Orders?"

"Look out for phoenix symbols with eyes in the tail feathers," Lyn probably shrugged. "I'll look into it. How long before the Yakuza are back to work?"

"Reno thinks soon. Tseng's unconvinced."

"Your thoughts?"

"They'll want more power," Rude answered indifferently.

"Tseng'll promise them some very pretty ceremonial powers. Skill I wish I had," Lyn sighed. "Right. For now you and Red focus on helping Tseng and then on Kisaragi Akemi. Leave old Hundred Eyes to me. I'll see if I can't put a few out."

"You think he's there?"

"It wouldn't surprise me. Executing war heroes is a tough business, particularly when they're well liked by your soon-to-be Empress."

"Complicated."

"The burdens of beauty," Lyn chuckled. "Come back soon. Verdot says I can't go out and play again until you're done."

"That's stopping you?" Rude prompted with genuine surprise.

"Nah its the strict orders rationing the cigs around here. I'm not allowed to have _one_ without directly reporting to Verdot. Anyone caught giving me one or its found I pilfered their stash means they get assigned any unsavory task decided by the Bugs."

"Good time to quit?" Rude offered as he tried to maintain his stoicism.

"Go ahead, laugh. Don't think I don't know about your affinity for bacon and the deal you've made with the cooks for extra shares. Trust me, I can end it with a snap of my fingers."

"We'll be back soon," Rude tried to promise without laughing. His voice trembled slightly but he managed to avoid an outright guffaw at the absurdity of Lyn's captivity.

"Get off my phone," Lyn grumbled. "And I hope they burn all your bacon."


	27. Organizations and People

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 27: Organizations and People

Reno slouched on his knees in a mockery of Wutai's formal sitting style. He listened idly to the rounds of complaints, arguments, and accusations voiced by the five heads of the Yakuza families and their retainers. Tseng fielded all this expertly in his native tongue, unruffled by any number of times he was called unpleasant things or subtley threatened.

He and Rude flanked Tseng between Tiger boss Nakamura and the head of the Yatsuba family. Several seats away Tennouji was also sitting, his expression a mask and remaining respectfully silent as his elders spoke. He'd gotten taller in two years although Rude had height on everyone in the building. Rather than a top knot Tennouji bound his hair at the nape of his neck, watching the goings on with detatched interest.

Their eyes met over the table. He nodded almost imperceptibly before his eyes flicked across the table to one of the retainers from the Kikuchi family. Reno studied the middle aged warrior with reddish, almost rust colored streaks in his hair. He had perfect posture, particularly narrow eyes fixed on the present speaker. Reno didn't recognize him.

Tennouji shifted minutely and leaned in to speak with one of the retainers. They murmured below the current conversation. The retainer nodded and Tennouji excused himself quietly. Reno waited until there was a sudden commotion as two family heads fell to arguing.

"Should I go pretty up our main course?" he asked Tseng. His superior glanced around the table.

"I was hoping to soothe their tempers more thoroughly before bringing him in here, for his sake. But there is the strong suspician we set them up," Tseng gave him a nod.

"Four dead turkies apparently doesn't seem like much to them."

"Not compared to the tens they lost," Tseng shrugged. "Find out what Yatsuba Tennouji wanted first," he added.

"Sure thing," Reno laughed. Nothing escaped Tseng, his dark eyes focused across the table on the Kikuchi retainer. Tiger Boss glanced at Reno as the red head departed but made no move to object.

Tennouji was sitting on the veranda surrounded by a flock of Kaede's girls. Midgar cards were whirring through his fingers. He instructed one girl to pick a card and she obliged. In a series of shuffling and deck cutting Tennouji deftly selected the very card she had, insiting delight amids the girls.

"What a charmer," Reno remarked in Wutain. The girls looked up at him as Tennouji continued shuffling with a little smile. "I remember when you just broke things," he added playfully.

"Neko-chan, can you do any tricks?" asked the girl they called Butterfly.

"At the rate these talks are going I will have all week to show you tricks Butterfly-chan," he smiled as her face turned vibrant colors. Squeals of delight echoed and Hana sidled up to him, Kaede's very first girl. She curled her hands around his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Just one girl all week?" she asked with a demure glance at him.

"I do not think stamina is a trick but I can show you that too," he promised as her smile made creases around her eyes. Hana was somewhere between thirty and forty. Circumstance had reduced her to the gutters before Kaede had happened upon her half dead. Reno still remembered how nervous Hana had been, a peasant her whole life suddenly wrapped up in silks and educated.

"That's an innate skill Neko-kun, not a trick," Hana assured him. She had a dimple in one round cheek.

"Its amusing you were little more than a mangy foreigner casting about in our streets when you first came to Wutai and now here you are, a pet in Kaede's pleasure palace," Tennouji remarked with a wry smile.

"Kaede still says I am mangy," Reno rubbed at the stubble on his jaw. "Hana-chan, can we have some tea?"

"No sake?" Butterfly almost pouted.

"Too many swords and hot tempers," Hana shook her head. She gave Reno's arm a squeeze. "Come on. There's plenty to do before this evening," she herded the other girls away.

"Hana-chan," Reno whined. Hana looked back at him. He bent and pointed to his cheek. With another smile creasing her eyes and bringing out the dimple Hana lifted onto her toes so she could give him a kiss. Then her soft steps carried her away.

"Women will be your downfall," Tennouji warned him as he secured his cards with a band and tucked them inside his white on black jacket. Reno just shrugged as he plunked down next to the young heir. "I'm eager to see what cards the Turks have brought to the table today. Verdot and Tseng are much too crafty to just rely on promises and words to soothe yakuza frustrations."

"That's the problem with those crafty types. Can't read 'em," Reno agreed lapsing into Midgarean.

"Keep your secrets then," Tennouji smirked in the same language. "Sa Gong is lucky it enjoys Shin-Ra protection. The great Southern Capitol here would have been erradicated long ago by Imperial forces. Our Da Chao is not as great as that of the North alongside the Pagoda."

"Never been that far," Reno shrugged. "Lyn's seen it a lot though. Unless its about the job she doesn't say much about the scenary."

"That is the trouble with you eastern people," Tennouji sighed. "You never pay attention to the beauty around you."

"Unless they've got a buncha nude babes on their Da Chao I wouldn't exactly call it beautiful yo. Awe inspiring maybe, although until you've lived underneath another city I don't think you can appreciate engineering genius," Reno reflected absently as he pulled out a cigarette. Tennouji considered this.

"I feel the south here is watching a new power rise," Tennouji said after a moment. Reno ignored the urge to snort a remark about the Shin-Ra presence. Wutai was a land of ornamented conversation and mentaphor. "Sadly it is not that of my own house."

"Kikuchi?" Reno prompted.

"A new retainer. Karasuma Masao."

Reno whistled. Karasuma was _the_ up and coming name in the Yakuza world. He was highly respected for his skill and tactical brilliance. Even the Imperials knew his name. The Kikuchi house was on better terms with Rude's tacit, direct nature rather than Reno's irreverence. As such this was the first time Reno had been able to put a name and face together.

"You pulled me outta that dull meeting because you have an interfamily crush?" Reno teased as Hana reappeared with a tray of tea. She poured delicately for both men. "Ar-ee-ga-mee," Reno playfully butchered two words at once. Hana rolled her eyes. He offered her his cheek again and she obligingly put a kiss on it before departing.

"There is talk of Karasuma being given his own family," Tennouji carried on as if Reno hadn't said anything at all. "That is nearly unheard of in war time. Families do not branch out, they consolidate in the interest of strength and stability."

"What a stud. I'll see what Rude knows," Reno nodded.

"Karasuma is a man of ambition and independence. He fought on behalf of the Imperials but they would offer him no promotion on the grounds of his ancestry. He comes from a long line of fish mongers." Tennouji cautioned. "Many young yakuza respect him – from different houses – and I would be surprised if there was not a power shift. Kikuchi assumes loyalty for the bones he has thrown. I think Karasuma sees him only as the means to an end."

"Noted," Reno filed the information away and wondered what Tennouji really thought. He was heir to the Yatsuba family and set to inherit quite a bit of power and influence. Someone like Karasuma would pose a powerful adversary, particularly if Tennouji thought him worth mentioning to the Shin-Ra. Then again Tennouji was cunning enough to place himself at least temporarily into Shin-Ra favor so that if Karasuma became a threat he would be eliminated and the Yatsuba status raised. "No worries Tan-'o'-john. We won't forget ya if things go south yo," he promised.

"Here you are having all the fun with Leno-kun," came a welcome voice behind him in Wutain. Reno turned unable to help the smile slashing across his face. Hiromi's hands were on her hips, her saffron robes splashed in blue dragon flies and white lotus blossums.

"My, my," Reno whistled. "You're prettier than ever OJ." Hiromi blushed as he stood up and circled her admiringly. It was true. Of all the women he'd met in Wutai Hiromi was by far the prettiest. She stopped him with a few fingers on his chest and half unsheathed the wakizashi she'd given him from its place at his side. Her smile grew broader as it did each time she realized he still carried the gift. "Right here right now toots?" he teased stepping closer.

"You saying that to all the girls," she accused in his native tongue.

"But I mean it when I say it to you," Reno insisted.

"I hear these women make sighs and make their lashes like butterflies as they long for 'Neko-chan.'" she insisted.

"I could make you sigh too," he insisted. Tennouji cleared his throat. "Don't be jealous," he fired back. "Come on OJ. Walk me down the hall on my errand would ya?"

"Alright," she looped her arm through his. Reno slackened his pace so her delicate footsteps confined by the kimono could keep up. "It's good to see you again," she looked up. "I was happy to hear you would be here at the same time."

"Now why would you be here at all OJ?" he followed her switch back into Wutain.

"Business," she shrugged dismissively. "The last time I saw you you'd just come back from the fronts and were covered in soot. Did your shoulder heal up properly?" her fingers spread over his shoulderblade. He thought about her sitting up with him during his fever telling him fairy tales as she mopped sweat from his forehead.

"It is a little stiff," he made a show of rolling it. "Want to help me loosen it up?" Hiromi laughed, her thumb sliding back and forth across his jacket. She was always halfway to a genuine yes when she remembered he was (mostly) joking and the precarious relations between their respective organizations.

"Will you eat dinner with us tonight Leno-san?" she changed the subject. "You can catch me up on all your adventures with Lude-san."

"If we are still here tonight yes," Reno nodded. Hiromi opened her mouth and shut it again. She seemed to work over her next words.

"It would mean a lot if you would," she said at length. Reno shot her a curious sideways look.

"We will be there," he amended, thinking Kisaragi Akemi would keep another day.

"Thank you!" she seemed to relax at his side. Reno stopped outside the room containing the informant. Two men from Kaede's personal guards were standing at attention and he knew more were inside. "I'll leave you to your work then," Hiromi took a step away.

"See you at dinner," he nodded and watched her until she turned around another corner. When she'd gone Reno passed the guards without trouble and stood before the bandaged, mangled man Verdot had sent to them. He was half asleep, slouched in his restraints. At one time he might have been considered dignified, streaks of iron gray shooting through his hair, but his face was so disfigured and swollen he only looked pitiable.

"Bring him along," Reno instructed. Kaede's guards stepped forward. With the jingle of lock and key they released him and hoisted him to his feet. He wheezed protest as sweat formed a sudden layer across his face. Reno led the way down the hallway and back into the conference chambers.

"Gentlemen, here is the man that disseminated the misinformation leading to this disaster. Let us hear for ourselves what he has to say," Tseng introduced seamlessly. The man was dropped roughly in the middle of the room, his useless legs crumpling beneath him. "Is there someone who would like to do the questioning?"

Tiger boss volunteered himself for that honor. Reno plopped back down in his seat, glancing at Karasuma from the corner of his eye.

"What is your name?" Tiger boss demanded.

"O-Oonishi Tenma," he wheezed.

"And who do you work for?" Tenma offered Tiger boss no answer, trembling silently in a last effort at resistance. It didn't really matter. Verdot and Lyn would have wrung all information from him already. Tiger boss' hand tightened around a bandaged shoulder. Tenma's resistance lasted only a handfull of seconds.

"General Sato of the – of the Imperial army..." his voice broke.

"How long have you beein in the Shin-Ra army?"

"F-four years."

"Interesting you were not caught before this," Tiger boss rumbled, his eyes flashing back to the trio of very young Turks. Tseng remained perfectly calm as Reno pointedly proped his chin on his hands, watching dispassionately. "These orders from Sato?"

In a series of questions with only a little encouragement here and there Tenma regurgitated the events that had cost so many Yakuza lives and his role in them. Each statement brought more rumbles of dissatisfaction through the room but Reno watched as their hatred of the Imperials was only strengthened.

Tiger boss' questions came to a close as he paced around the wounded man, clearly torn between decapitating him and asking more questions. Reno ran through the story internally.

"You said Sato gave you the orders. Did you give him the information?" Reno piped up suddenly, sitting up straighter. The room fell silent as the eyes turned to him.

"Yes," Tenma panted, his second interrogation having worn him out.

"And where did you find that information? How did you know where the Turk and Yakuza operations were happening? You were a major in the enlisted ranks. How did you get access to that?" Tseng shifted in his seat minutely but remained calm. Reno immediately got the sense that perhaps he shouldn't have asked such a question in front of the ruffled yakuza, realizing it implied a much larger leak.

"I am only two of the eyes," Tenma gave him a weak smile, malice glittering in his black eyes. Sharp breaths were drawn all around the room.

"If you imply Koiso and his network of spies I suggest you provide names," Karasuma spoke at last, his voice surprisingly smooth. "Two less eyes for Bai Yan will not cripple him so terribly I think." Tenma smiled as Reno recognized his intentions. His muscles clenched as he moved, wishing the Yakuza would take the time to drug their interrogation victims for just this reason. Tseng's hand clamped down on Reno's knee, shooting him a restraining look from the corner of his eye.

Tenma bit through his tongue and red blood gushed from his mouth. He hacked as it rolled down his throat and spattered all over the floor. The room burst into a flurry of activity as Reno's hands fisted in anger. He'd never met a people more excited to die for their cause than the Wutain.

"Could you tell me these things?" Reno growled under his breath.

"You're too eager to help them," Tseng replied in equal softness. "You're the only one on either side who really sees us as allies."

"Fuck," Reno snarled jerking to his feet. He yanked his cigarettes out of his pocket and stormed out of the room. "My _orders_ are to help them," Reno hissed as he tried to snap his lighter on. Rude struck a match and lit the cigarette, appearing on his right side.

"That's why Tseng is Verdot's right hand and you're Lyn's," Rude answered as Reno took to pacing. He breathed out smoke like a dragon blew fire.

"What does that mean?" he snapped with misplaced ferocity. His hand swept back through his red hair.

"Means Verdot and Tseng are the kind that decide the tune and we make it happen for them," Rude shrugged. Reno just paced and smoked as he tried to cope with this. He'd spent so much time almost dying next to the Yakuza it seemed foolish _not_ to regard them as Shin-Ra allies. They were more trustworthy than most of the Bugs so far as he was concerned.

"We're too close," Rude seemed to read his thoughts. "We see people. They see the organizations."

"That's all they are," Reno stopped next to his friend, hands jammed in his pockets as he stared up at Rude in frustration. "They're people like us."

"We're not people remember? We're Turks," Rude answered heavily looking out across Kaede's gardens. They stood silently side by side. Reno thought about Tenma in there bleeding to death after biting off his own tongue. He thought about the faces of other Imperial soldier's he'd killed and the men and women he'd interrogated for the Shin-Ra and their Yakuza 'allies'.

"We'll reconvene in an hour," Tseng appeared at his elbow. Reno managed not to jump. Instead he pulled out another cigarette to replace the dead one he'd been chewing on absently. "Will you be able to handle that?"

"You're the boss," Reno answered flatly.

"Please refrain from assisting in the interrogations," Tseng continued.

"You're the boss," he repeated.

"There are reasons I do these things," Tseng stated softly. Reno took a long drag.

"So they tell me. You set the bar and I jump."

"You..." Tseng hesitated. "Yes. You jump." He sounded tired. "You have an hour." He left as soundlessly as he'd come. Reno gave his temper another few minutes as he tried to look at it as a set of organizations rather than the men he fought along side and the women who kept him company at night and laughed at his jokes.

"We're having dinner with the Yatsubas," Reno said when he trusted his tone. "OJ's special request." Rude looked at him. "I know, I know, organizations. I can't help it. I'm a people guy yo."

"You're a woman guy _yo_," Rude corrected. Reno cracked a grin in spite of himself.

"Come on hubby. It'll be fun," Reno slapped his back.

"Yatsuba-ojou," came a voice Reno had only heard once before but recognized immediately. He slunk automatically back against the wall to peer around the corner. Rude followed suit out of habit.

Hiromi was standing along the veranda with Karasuma. Her eyes were cast demurely on the floor boards.

"I apologize for the commotion. It would seem there is more happening here than we originally thought. Are you still ready for this evening?"

"Yes Karasuma-sama," she bowed to him formally.

"Please call me Masao, ojou."

"We will not be married for another few moons. It would be improper," she shook her head.

"Improper? This coming from the woman I saw cut through Imperials to assist one of her family's oldest and most loyal retainers?" Karasuma laughed. "Think on it ojou. It would make me happy."

"Yes Karasuma-sama."

"Perhaps after the announcement it will not seem so 'improper' to call me by my name," Karasuma mused. "Come. Let us find your brother."

"Makes sense now," Reno sighed. "Tennouji was saying there might be a power shift. If Karasuma joins up with the Yatsuba that'll be a huge deal. Yatsuba boss obviously thinks he's something to offer up OJ as marriage bait. That whole organization thing again."

"Was she special?" Rude quirked an eyebrow.

"I don't think I ever _can_ feel like that again," Reno grinned. "Doesn't mean tonight I won't throw her a helluva dinner though."


	28. Plans

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 28: Plans

Tseng looked underslept Reno noticed as Kaede fussed to make his tie lay flat. Reno let her do as she pleased, more concerned with finding his smokes. Chances were he'd run out long before he got back from the far north and Wutai's capitol city. A lamentable situation but a man could only carry so many cigarettes.

Sunrise was still a few hours away. Mist curled over the streets in an appropriate match to the recent happenings. Talks had persisted four more days after Tenma's suicide as the different families quarreled uselessly. As Reno was forced to sit in on them for hours at a time listening to them jostle for position he began to see what Rude was saying about organizations. Of course the Yakuza had their angle. Reno knew that better than anyone. But he'd always operated under the assumption that at least in war time they had thrown their lots in together and had to act in their mutual best interest.

"What's wrong?" Kaede prompted as she finished setting the knot just so. As soon as he was out of sight he'd pull it loose.

"It is too early," he complained. She gave his chest a pat. There was a long pause as she looked up into his face. Rising onto her tip toes she brushed a kiss against his lips.

"Please be careful. I don't know how things will be when you come back."

"Me neither," he sighed heavily, his gaze sweeping across the row of shoji leading inside her establishment. "Your business is this. Do not do the silly things," he added as an afterthought, fumbling for Wutain words.

"I'll be here waiting for you," she nodded with a wan smile. "You and Daru." Patting his chest and attempting to smooth wrinkles out of his coat one last time she turned away from him and made for Rude. The Milano had just appeared with his saddle bags slung over one broad shoulder.

"Think things really will wrap up soon?" Reno asked as he came to stand next to Tseng. They'd barely spoken in the last few days.

"Yes. Today is the final day."

"You'll be okay on your own?"

"I thought you had a good strong man to worry about," Tseng prompted with a rare smile.

"I can't just write off your advances completely yo," Reno shrugged as he felt some tension release between them. "That wouldn't be nice."

"I'm sure I'll regret asking again but do you have a plan?" Tseng asked after a moment.

"For breaking into the Emperor's Pagoda? No," Reno laughed softly. Tseng's eyes flew over to him as they widened in alarm. He looked back towards the mist shrouded gates and extracted a thin silver case from his inner coat pocket. Flipping it open he selected a hand rolled cigarette and struck a match. After a few long drags Tseng crossed his arms. "I didn't know you smoked."

"I should have realized why Lyn liked you and Rude so much. You're both as mad as she is."

"Low blow," Reno winced.

"Lyn's the only operative I've ever met who could just be handed a general objective and pull it off without any further information. Its why she's so valuable to Verdot."

"Not much different from scratching out a life in the slums. Except the pay's great," Reno shrugged. Tseng took another long pull. He reached into his coat and extracted the phone.

"Take this with you. I _will_ find you schematics, whatever I can find out about the Pagoda."

"This is outside my pay grade," Reno turned the device over in one hand. "Besdies, we can get it done."

"But can you come back? That's practically a one way trip," Tseng demanded.

"We'll be alright yo. You'll need this to check in with Verdot anyway. You set the tune remember? We make it happen."

Tseng muttered a few curses as he shoved the phone back in his pocket. He finished his cigarette and ground it out on a stone one step below the veranda. With a heavy sigh he looked back at Reno still idly smoking.

"Where did she find two perfect idiots?"

"This is a better life then we'd have had," Reno shrugged. "We'll be back. You can hen peck us then Tseng." He lifted his saddle bags and stepped onto the dirt walk leading to the bikes parked at the gates. "Come on hubby!" Reno called to Rude. Kaede had been laughing at something he was saying. She raised up onto her toes to kiss his cheek. Rude gave her a small bow before departing.

"You're content to just go along with Lyn's mad plans?" Tseng looked to Rude for a different answer.

"It isn't anything she wouldn't do," he replied thoughtfully. Reno grinned.

"I guess that's the key. 'Course she likes this kind of thing, sick freak."

"How can Verdot let this slide?" Tseng demanded mostly of himself.

"This is what we do," Reno assured him. "But if you had some Sol Sunbursts and bacon lined up for when we get back that wouldn't hurt anything." Rude looked at his companion as if he'd been betrayed. "Come on. Its not a secret," Reno cajoled.

"Did you tell Lyn?" Rude accused.

"Oh please. You look at bacon like I look at a cig." Reno rolled his eyes before he blew a kiss to Kaede. The mist swallowed them up when they reached the bikes. "On the topic of plans how should we get to the capitol? Which way's north?"

Rude pointed as he fished something out of his coat with the other hand. Unfolding a map of Wutai he spread it across his bike. Reno leaned forward to peer at it. The milano studied it a moment and then traced a trajectory with one finger.

"As of last week these cities were ours. We'll have to switch from bikes to Chocobo after that and cut through the woods here," he explained.

"I hate chicken back," Reno groaned.

"We could walk."

"I'll give you an answer when we get to Nago."

Rude almost smiled as he folded the map again. Reno pulled his old goggles on as he turned the engine over. The pair of them cut through the mist like snarling beasts, their headlights barely illuminating the ground before them.

By eight most of the mist had burned away. The heat came up hand in hand with the sultry southern humidity. They made good time through lands mostly controlled by the Shin-Ra, Wutai peasants stopping to watch them roar through the streets on their foreign bikes. Out in the countryside the roads were rougher, deep ruts marking wagon travel past neatly kept rice paddy fields. Farmers in basket hats scurried away at the ominous roar of engines.

Reno and Rude took lunch with troop of enlisted men marching further north now that their objectives in the east were met. The news was good despite the heavy casualties in that direction. Pushing on through the afternoon monsoon they didn't stop again until they needed fuel from an outpost late in the day. From there it was a short jaunt to Nago where their civilized means of transportation came to an end.

"We're walking," Reno announced as he stared at the Chocobo watching them from its stable.

"You'll feel better about it tomorrow," Rude assured him.

"No I won't," Reno insisted peeling out of his sopping, muddy jacekt as they slogged towards the makeshift barracks of an old apartment building. The enlisted guards saluted and let them pass.

"Shoes," Rude reminded him as he stepped out of his.

"Chocobos are proof there is no God. Or maybe its proof there's a Satan. They're from Hell." Reno hopped on one foot as he argued with his shoe.

"Useful all the same," Rude dismissed his complaints.

So of course they were on Chocobo back the next morning, long before dawn while the mist still obscured the land. Reno sat tensely in the saddle thinking of too many instances when he'd been unseated and birds had run off to leave him to duke it out with mounted Samurai and then double up with Rude all the way back.

"If you just wanna ride with me you could say as much," Reno complained one last time, wincing as he set his heels to the Chocobo's sides.

"Distance makes the heart grow fonder," Rude answered as he pulled ahead. Reno bobbed along after him into the woods, equipped only with a map, a compass, and Rude's uncanny sense of direction.

On Chocobo in the wilds it took a week and a half to reach the outskirts of the capitol. Twice they had to double back and veer another direction to avoid Imperial camps. They killed two scouts out of necessity and ate salty rations without the comfort of even a campfire in the dark. It had taken both of them ages to get used to the pitch black after growing up in the perpetual false light of the slums.

Reno was almost proud of himself by the time they arrived at the war torn outskirts of the capitol. It was smoldering with various fires raging along the buildings outside the great wall. Explosions shook the ground and bloomed like enormous red flowers. For all that destruction with the grand pagoda jutting like a fang before a cliff face carved in fantastical Gods, the only thing Reno knew was that he'd only been unseated twice in the whole trip.

"Reach the capitol, check," he gave Rude a thumb's up. "Can we walk yet?"

"Looks like they set up there," Rude indicated a fortified corner of the city. Reno resigned himself to more riding.

They arrived covered in travel grit and tired, escorted in by Fenrirs stationed on duty around the city limits. Haggard though they were it was decided they would wait for Sephiroth himself to return from the seige lines. Reno peeled out of his dirty jacket and rolled his sleeves back, trying to ignore the sweltering temperatures. He ran one hand through his sweat damp hair and dug out his pack for the last cigarette. A quiet war waged inside him. Smoke now or after the meeting with Sephiroth?

He handed the pack to Rude for safe keeping. After would do him more good. Rude obligingly tucked it away. Despite the stains on his coat he still looked unruffled, the glasses perched on his nose as he surveyed the map spread over their table.

"Look here," he pointed. Reno dragged himself to his feet so he could come around his partner's other side. "Shortest way to the pavillion."

"How well d'you think its guarded?" he inquired.

"You'll want to take the long way," Sephiroth said calmly as his black glove touched down on another place. "That path leads past some of the most notable of their Samurai and Shinobi families."

"Of course. Never take the short cut," Reno sighed and sank back into his chair. He looked up at the captain spattered in a day's grim work. "I've never seen you dirty before yo."

"I've yet to see you clean," Sephiroth replied. He moved to a cabinet and extracted a bottle of water before returning to sit across the table. "Where's the She-Demon?"

"They're patching her up," Reno gestured at his arm. "Burned pretty bad after that last op you Bugs crashed."

"I was surprised when Xíhē returned to the capitol without Lyn in tow. I thought perhaps their power struggle had come to an end in Wutai's favor." Sephiroth took a drink and studied the Turks settled across the table from him. "What errand is yours this time and why did you come to me?"

"We need into the city. Lyn said we should help you Bugs out too if we could."

"The easiest way into the city for two would be to cut around Da Chao and come in from over the cliffs," Sephiroth answered easily. "As to helping us we need their priests removed. Their protections and shells are too powerful for our inferior Materia to blast the wall to pieces. Even I have trouble getting to them on foot with their elite acting as physical defense so we're left to squabbling over the outskirts and running from Ifrit or Leviathan's occaisional appearance."

"Leviathan we can handle," Reno drummed his fingers on the table. Sephiroth leaned forward.

"How?"

Reno extracted the syringe and held it out. Sephiroth lifted it delicately and turned it over in the buzzing of crudely rigged electrical lighting. Generators were humming somewhere nearby. His mako green eyes studied the saffron liquid before carefully returning it to Reno.

"Lyn says its a derivative of Materia. My job is to sink it into Leviathan's bride." Reno explained. Sephiroth laced his fingers together and perched his chin on them. His eyes narrowed as he studied the Turks.

"You're attacking a superstition."

"Those are our orders," Reno shrugged.

"It will undermine Leviathan's preceived stability. The Sun Sect already balks at Godo's leadership and difficulties between them are heating up," Rude elaborated. Sephiroth's gaze flicked to him and back to the map.

"All we need from you is information. If you're feeling generous you can make a diversion, but climbing up and over Da Chao seems just crazy enough to work."

"I want a crack at Godo," Sephiroth said slowly. "I can never get close enough with all his elites around him. I'll go with you."

"Oh sure, you'll go – what?" Reno choked.

"You'll need the help getting in," Sephiroth reminded him. Reno bit his cheek as he wondered if he had the power to object. Technically Sephiroth had rank – lots of rank. But Reno technically worked for a totally different branch of Shin-Ra military. "Yes I outrank you. I had other things to worry about last time. Now its time to pay up."

"Its true. The Rank," Rude confirmed as Reno turned to him. There was a moment of silence as Reno scrambled for a way to alter the course of events. He sank back into his chair with a heavy sigh.

"So we come in around back, from Da Chao?" he asked. Sephiroth stood up so he could loom over the map, his silver hair falling over his shoulders in a shimmering veil. He tracked out paths and routes for what appeared the millionth time by the familiar way his eyes seemed to dismiss them all.

"Here is their greatest force and their greatest weakness. Right beside the Sun Sect's Grand Temple. In the first fight the clashing magic blew apart the walls and we nearly cleared them before Ifrit and Leviathan fell on us jointly." Reno leaned forward to look at the spot Sephiroth indicated. "The Sun Sect are respectable adversaries, more than your average Imperial."

"Have you taken any of their prayer beads?" Rude asked.

"No. But if we can tear this portion of the wall down again after your work is done with Leviathan's Bride my seige will have a breach and the coincidence will be difficult to overlook."

"All I need is one set of their prayer beads and I'll have that wall down for you," Rude nodded.

"For maximum impact that would have to happen first," Reno pointed out. "It would look less like a Shin-Ra escape and more like a Sun Sect betrayal if the wall blew open from their side first and _then _Leviathan's Bride went crazy."

"Dicey," Sephiroth crossed his arms as he stood up straight. He stared at the map as if the battlefield might conform to his will. "Unless the pair of you were to synchronize your actions. One could handle the Bride and the other the Sun Sect."

Reno and Rude looked at each other. Divide and conquer wasn't an unusual tactic for them, but they'd never pulled off anything quite this risky either.

"We can't withstand a full onslaught of Leviathan and Ifrit for long. Unless your superstitions turn out to be grounded in some truth and Leviathan does begin to act strangely blowing out the wall first is going to cause serious problems," Sephiroth ruminated aloud.

"Short term," Rude interjected. "Long term suspician and accusations will do us a great favor in Wutai's morale."

"Where do the Emperor and Empress sleep? In the pagoda?" Reno asked. Sephiroth gave him a nod. "Think you can kill 'em or at least hold them off long enough to get your men in and have them set fire to the city or something?"

"_That_ I could probably do," Sephiroth nodded. "You would be in charge of the Sun Sect then since you seem familiar with their Materia," he pointed at Rude. "And you and I would handle the pagoda."

Reno stared at the map with a slow nod. Rude studied his section.

"I'll have a team assigned to you. They can work along the rest of the wall and slaughter as many defensive spell casters as possible. And if I divide the troops then perhaps..." Sephiroth trailed off as machinations whirred behind his aloof eyes. Reno sat back and looked at his old friend.

"They need to pay us way more," he resolved. Rude bobbed his head in agreement. "Do you think ten years from now we'll still be doing this kind of thing yo?"

"If we make it into our late twenties I'll buy your cigarettes for a year."

"Oh, that's a deal," Reno grinned.

"Meeting? I don't give a damn about a meeting!" a woman was shouting just outside the door. Sephiroth was pulled from his thoughts abruptly, eyes shooting towards the entrance being forced open. "Just what the hell is this?" a mangled piece of metal thunked onto the floor as an impossibly pale woman with grey eyes and lanky, white blond hair knotted at the top of her head demanded. She was smeared in patches of soot and oil, her unusually tall frame clothed unflatteringly in a jumpsuit.

"This could have waited Mullaney," Sephiroth answered patiently.

"_No_, this is proof you're getting fat and lazy you silver haired twat," Mullaney snapped, pointing at the broken metal. "Wutai's been too good to you apparently despite all that fighting. If not for this thing you'd be sporting an unnatural division between your collar bones and your shoulder. Now show me your sword. I'm sure you've bent it again or maybe put a chip in it." She stomped across the room in military issue boots, her hand closing around the hilt of the long sword Sephiroth carried. Sephiroth's hand closed around her wrist forbiddingly. Rather than be stopped Mullaney elbowed him so hard in the ribs with her free arm Reno could hear the sound of the connection.

"I thought you were hurt," she growled as the blood drained from Sephiroth's face. The rest of the sword came loose and she balanced it on two fingers just above the hilt clicking her tongue. "Straight as a Turk. What were you _doing_ with the Masamune? Mining?"

"Your 'armor' is cumbersome. I'm better off without it," Sephiroth almost sulked, one hand curling over the spot where she'd elbowed him.

"Legendary _baby_ is more like it. Imagine, calling you Legendary when you can't even manage to compensate a fractional bit of metal for protection," Mullaney griped. "You two, _Turks,_ what are you doing keeping him up when he needs to visit the doctors?" she snapped the Masamune around into their faces.

"Mullaney," Sephiroth practically crushed her wrist and took his sword back. "Thank you for this surprise visit. Don't you have machinery to fix?"

"I work sixteen hour days to make sure your little flash mob can keep on squabbling with the Woots! I wouldn't have to come out if you didn't need minding! Whenever you come into this room it means bad things. My inventions and hard work blown up, you in danger, you breaking and whining about the armor I make for you. You can't _get_ anything lighter than this!" she hooked a finger around what might have been a chest plate once.

"If you want to help then make this straight again and leave armor out of it," Sephiroth pushed the Masamune into her hands. "And I need sixteen each of the strongest shell and protection Materia for a wall crossing. If you could put something together to pour heavy fire into a break in the wall that would be much appreciated. I need something to distract from my men."

"I'll return this when you've come with a doctor's note," she waved the hilt in his face before swirling out of the room.

"Suddenly I see this faint light around Lyn's head in my memories," Reno looked at Rude. "And I feel like a two week trip on Chocobo to bring her flowers and chocolates."

"Lyn or Lola?" Rude frowned.

"Either."

"Mullaney Mjolner," Sephiroth sighed. "Niece to president Shin-Ra."

"And you thought I was annoying," Reno whistled.

"I will again in about thirty seconds." He picked up the cuirass and examined it. "You'll have to see her. She controls the armory and all things technological. She's brilliant and well connected which is why she stomps around here in boots like she's a General."

"Can we sleep first? Maybe shower and shave? Because I really don't want to face off against her before you've been to the pediatrition," Reno demanded, rubbing sleep from one eye.

"Have someone show you to the barracks. It'll take at least twelve hours to complete preparations."


	29. Preparations

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 29: Preparations

"I'm here to get you outfitted. Second Class SOLDIER Simmons," a small man with a buzz cut saluted crisply at the door.

"Make it go away," Reno muttered from beneath his pillow. Rude rubbed the lingering sleep from his eyes and wondered what time it was. It was still dark and his internal clock put it somewhere around four.

"Captain's orders," Simmons shook his head. Small and wiry he was maybe five and a half feet tall. He carried a standard SOLDIER sword and an assault rifle strapped across his back, his uniform worn but well kept. "He did offer to send Mjolner to you instead."

"I'm up, I'm up," Reno sat up. Rude stepped back into the room and went to collect his washed clothing from where it hung over the top bunk next to Reno's. Even clean Reno's clothing was still slightly unkempt. Simmons stood in the doorway impersonally with his glowing blue eyes fixed on a patch on the floor.

In a few minutes they were as ready as they would get, Reno checking to be sure the syringe was still in his pocket. Rude handed him a succor as he began fishing for his cigarettes. The first few days after he ran out always left him a bit disoriented.

"Wasn't Miguel saying something about patches? Maybe I should look into those. I bet I could carry a lot of those," Reno grumbled around the blueberry succor already staining his teeth. He secured his wakizashi and the night stick.

"They made you queasy," Rude shook his head remembering the last time when Reno had the very same idea. "You threw up during interrogation."

"Oh yeah. We were being interrogated," Reno's grin slashed across his face. "That was the moment you needed to break your bonds. Lyn thought that was so funny." He ruffled his hair before binding it at the nape of his neck. It almost brushed his shoulder blades.

"This way," Simmons seemed to decide they'd had enough time. Reno sauntered directly behind him as Rude brought up the rear. Simmons walked with exact strides, each one crisp and measured. Everything about him from his regulation buzz cut – something most SOLDIERS ignored – to his well kept boots screamed his dedication to the books.

They emerged into the predawn streets, the skies silent. Simmons brought them through the narrow alleys clustered with groups of uniformed men or the occaisional prostitute scuttling away. They arrived at what might have been a barn once. Instead there were jeeps, bikes, and tables of assorted guns and mechanical parts cluttering the interior. In one corner a stove of some sort blazed with a wide opening. Hammer falls rang across the room. Rude spotted Mullaney working over the long Masamune, sparks glittering in her pale gray eyes. She didn't look up until the cherry color of the metal cooled and she drove Sephiroth's sword back into the enormous oven with its hot coals.

Crossing her arms she turned to look at the Turks. Her face was unwelcoming at best. When she'd taken them in again she looked to Simmons.

"You going over there too?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am," he nodded.

"Those are the packs for you and the other SOLDIERs making the crossing," she pointed a crooked finger at neatly wrapped parcels set on one table. "See everyone gets their gear and tests it. I'm a genius so it'll be fine but you're not all bright enough to figure out how it works on the first go."

"Ma'am," Simmons saluted without any offense. "I'll be back to collect you once Miss Mjolner's done with you."

"Ominous," Reno threw a look back at Rude.

"What are you? You've got Turk blues but you look like Hojo's put hands on you," Mullaney demanded as she circled the pair of them.

"Just a Turk toots," Reno shrugged. Mullaney looked annoyed.

"You're one of Lyn's, that's what you are. You though, you seem less hateful." She circled Rude now. He waited patiently for her to finish. She went back to the fire and extracted the Masamune with a fluid tug. Bringing it back to her anvil she set to work with the hammer. Rude's assumption was confirmed as he watched the irritation in her face smooth into affection. She lived for Sephiroth. If her previous noisy concern wasn't enough of an indication the attention she paid to her work in his favor was all the evidence he needed.

Lifting the cherry bright metal she sighted down its sharp edge before sliding it into a barrel of water. Hissing steam rose as she ladeled more along the extra length. On its tip it was taller than she was.

"Who's heading the Sun Sect team?" Mullaney demanded.

"I am," Rude stepped forward. Her lip curled.

"Of course Lyn's boy clone would go with Seph," she grumbled extracting the blade. Balancing it on her two fingers again she seemed satisfied and moved for some oil and a rag. "Your gear for the wall is over next to the furnace. Bring it here and I'll tell you how to work it."

Rude left Reno standing in front of Mullaney. He collected a small wrapped bundle and brought it to her as she secured the Masamune with a clamp and began running a file along the greased edge. Opening it he saw an iron bangle with three slots containing three green Materia orbs. It unhinged and closed with a neat click around his right wrist. There was also what looked like an ear piece.

"Do you see the dial along the back?" Mullaney prompted. Rude turned it around and found it. "You're all synced on frequency 108.6. I'll be listening in but you should keep radio silence until about the time you guys synchronize. Using Materia usually causes quite a bit of interference. It hurts your ears more than anything. Woots have a damn hard time catching up with our technology. All the same I like to keep it cutting edge. The mike is along there too, pressed against your jaw. Don't fuss with it, it'll work pressed against the skin and it minimizes the excess background noise. Power button is on the top."

Rude hooked the piece to his ear as he opened and closed his jaw, trying to acclimate to the feel of equipment. Usually he and Reno ran on their own silent signals within sight of each other. This would be the most high tech they'd ever been apart from Reno's innate ability to hack the rudimentary computor systes of Wutai make or systems they'd attempted to high jack. He tapped the power button and immediately heard the chatter of SOLDIERs babbling "Test, test, test!" into theirs.

"Man, Mullaney's outdone herself this round. Look how sleek these things are," someone was saying.

"She ain't on the line yet idiot. Don't waste your praise," another chastised.

"I think its true."

Rude switched it back off but left it in place.

"The Materia you've got are protect, shield, and Ice. Sun Sect monks specialize in Fire so they're not much good at Ice. You're weak in the reverse just carrying Ice. You know how to use those, right Turk?" Mullaney demanded without looking up. Rude thought of the Materia Grim had given him.

"Sure," he nodded. He'd come a long way from just smashing the orbs against his opponents in laughable if effective combat.

"The other things are grenades and flash bombs. Use them sparingly. Woots don't have quite as much to throw back at you but their aim is spot on with those arrows. If you don't keep up your shields they'll nail you before you know it."

"What about me?" Reno inquired when Mullaney fell silent. Her eyes flashed to him like she was irked he hadn't dropped into a void. It was almost funny how spectacularly Reno's usual lady killing charm repulsed her. She finished a few more strokes of the file before setting it aside and polishing up the blade. Taking Reno's hand she pressed it to the edge and was satisfied when it drew blood. "Brute," Reno grumbled, sticking the offended digit into his mouth.

"Baby," she shot back. Sheathing the Masamune she placed it reverently on her anvil before pulling out another parcel. "Communicator, Materia, one flash bomb."

"One? He got like six!" Reno argued like a child.

"You're job is to sneak, not to fight." She looked him up and down. "I doubt you'd be much good anyhow you scrawny thing. Lyn's tougher than you, clone boy." Poking him roughly in the chest she shook her head in disapproval.

"Woman," Reno brandished his cut finger threateningly. "I'm not scrawny. I'm lithe, svelt even."

"Whatever chicken legs," Mullaney snorted. "I'd prefer you with the Captain's back," she thumped Rude's chest with surprising strength.

"Please, don't worry, I'll do my best fair maiden of the fetid swamps," Reno grumbled fussing with his ear piece.

"Don't you listen you clod?" she snatched it away from him.

"Hey! That's mine now! No take backs!"

"I'm glad everyone's getting along," Sephiroth observed cooly from behind Rude. His long strides stopped beside the Milano as Mullaney pulled the ear piece away from Reno and held it over his head. She had enough height on alley cat Reno that he was reduce to jumping ineffectually after it like a frustrated boy again.

"Are you sure you have to take him? He'll trip an alarm," Mullaney accused loudly, shouldering Reno out of the way. His hips caught on the anvil as his arms pinwheeled. Rude stopped him from flipping over the metal with one hand. Mullaney adjusted the headset before slapping it onto the side of his head.

"Now don't touch it!" she barked. With a quick jerk she pulled the Masamune out from behind Reno and turned to Sephiroth. "Papers," she held out one hand. The Captain simply pressed a note into her palm. She unfolded it, skimmed the report, and with a staisfied nod she presented his sword. Sephiroth unsheathed it, turning it this way and that in the light. Rude watched every muscle in Mullaney's body go wire tight.

"Well done," Sephiroth nodded. A sudden smile bloomed across her features and she was pretty. Not beautiful with her long nose and square jaw but pretty as she radiated affection for him.

"Time, Lightning, Reflect," she said as she snapped a light weight shoulder guard into place with three Materia glittering in it. Reno was still grumbling as he fussed over his own bangle, clamping it around his wrist and checking it himself. Each bauble glimmered as he tapped into their magic.

"My favorites," Sephiroth nodded.

"I know," she nodded putting her hands on her hips. "You're sure about Lyn's boy clone? The tan one looks much more useful."

"Even you admit Lyn's competence," Sephiroth reminded her. Mullaney grimmaced.

"Once. I hadn't slept in ninety six hours. That hardly counts as a true admission."

"When was the last time you slept?"

"Don't patronize me," she snorted crossing her arms. Sephiroth tucked a stray hair behind her ear and a blush shot through her face. It was a calculated gesture on his part, no trace of genuine affection in his expression. "Dismissed. Take your boy clone and the tan guy and leave me alone you ogre."

Sephiroth smiled before turning away. Reno socked Mullaney in the arm with enough force she had to side step to catch her balance.

"I'll miss ya doll face," he gave her a blue toothed smile dripping with sarcasm. Mullaney pulled her fist back to return the favor when Reno darted out of the way. "You have rancid taste in chicks," he complained loudly as he caught up with Sephiroth. Mullaney hit Rude instead.

"Pass that on to your little friend," she snapped as Rude wheezed. She'd hit him cleanly in the chest and knocked the wind straight out of him. He doubled over just long enough to force air back into his lungs.

"Okay," he gasped. Mullaney was pacing animatedly back and forth, compulsively pushing hair back from her rosy cheeked face. His movement to straighten up seemed to catch her vollatile eye. She snatched something from a nearby work station and lobbed it at him. Rude felt it smack into his palm solidly.

"Full-Cure potion," she grumbled. "Its Hell out there."

"Thanks," he gave her a nod.

Reno and Sephiroth were slightly ahead of him as he came into the narrow streets. He caught up with long strides to their silent progress, neither interested in talking to the other. Making their way to the same meeting room where they'd sketched out their mad plans to storm the city Rude was surprised by the number of people now crammed inside.

"For those of you not on infiltration the plan is simple. Once the walls blow open you attack," Sephiroth began without needing to ask for silence. His mere presence commanded it. "Most of you will be positioned here at the original breach they were able to patch up. Turmin, you and yours will position at the opposite end here with a smaller force. Most of the fire power should be drawn to the breach near the Sun Sect so your entry will be harder for them to react against efficiently. Your aim then is to raze the city. Burn everything. I want the capitol destroyed."

"Sir."

"As to the crossing team, Darryl Rude of the Turks will be leading you. Your job is to get him one of the Sun Sect Monks' prayer beads. He'll blow out the wall and then show you how to use them," Sephiroth continued. Simmons raised his hand.

"Sir, isn't it just Materia?" he asked when Sephiroth acknowledged him.

"I've seen far more experience SOLDIERs incinerate themselves trying to tap into that many mastered Fire Materia at once. There is a definite technique," Sephiroth shook his head. "After the initial breach you're to eliminate as many monks as you possibly can all along the walls. Two of you, Simmons and Frederick, you'll go with Rude to blow out the secondary entry point. As for myself I'll try to draw off the Emperor and Empress as long as I can as we make a raid in the Pagoda itself. They'll be less inclined to unleash their monsters in the heart of the capitol. Burn everything. I want the city uninhabitable. Dismissed."

"Sir!" the chorus went up with salutes.

"Rude! I'll introduce you to the team," Simmons morphed out of the press of bodies attempting to escape the small room, all buzzing with excitement.

"In a moment Simmons," Sephiroth waved him off. Simmons saluted again and departed, presumably to stand just outside the door. "We're taking two separate entry points so if one team is discovered the other still has a shot," Sephiroth explained to the pair of Turks. "Rude you'll take your team in from the north. We've been burrowing into the temples carved inside Da Chao. Its a few more weeks before a discreet completion, but if you take out the guards garrisoned where the wall and the cliff meet you should be able to blow through the rest with relatively little issue. Simmons will know where you're going up to that point but once you're in you'll have to navigate the city blind."

Rude just nodded, memorizing the hand made map.

"You and I will litterally be scaling the back side of Da Chao and coming down and through directly to the Pagoda," Sephiroth looked to Reno now.

"Quickest path?" Reno asked.

"Here," Sephiroth pointed. "If we encounter Xíhē's daughter I will execute her. Is that something you can handle?"

"My job is the Bride, that's all," Reno shrugged. Sephiroth studied him a long minute and Reno held his gaze. When the Captain seemed satisfied he leaned back from the map.

"It will take about two days to get everyone in place for entry. At midnight the night after tomorrow it begins. You cannot be late," Sephiroth instructed Rude. "Have you led men before?"

"No," Rude shook his head.

"Speak with authority. You might be just a Turk to them now but once combat starts they need clear directions. They'll respond to your confidence. Simmons is your second and don't be afraid to use him. These men are all experienced, they just need to know what you want from them."

Rude nodded as tension eased slightly in his chest. He hadn't even realized he was tense. Reno was staring coolly at the map as he crunched through his succor. Sephiroth's previous statement about the girl didn't seem to be bothering him. Instead he looked analytical and focused. There was that switch that had changed over inside him again, the one Lyn had so painstakingly built into him over the last two years.

Reno caught him staring and gave him a patent smile. It curled up his lips and narrowed his eyes, showed off his slight canines and seemed to make him slouch.

"See you on the other side," he said still smiling.

"The city will be on fire. We'll have separated by then no doubt. The fastest way out will be via the river running through the city center. You'll dead end at the wall though and have to fight your way out. Otherwise you can try back tracking over Da Chao or navigating the temples there to our tunnel." Sephiroth traced each escape route with a gloved finger. "I've seen you two escape from worse," Sephiroth answered Rude's tightened jaw muscles without looking up.

Reno leaned over the table chewing on the succor stick. His tongue flickered over his blue teeth as he scoured the map.

"You've got two minutes for any final preparations and then we move," Sephiroth said as he looked between them.

"I hate water," Reno sighed when the Captain had gone.

"I'll meet you here," Rude indicated a bridge in the middle of the city. It was roughly equidistant from Rude's secondary wall target and the Pagoda. Reno let his eyes dart back and forth along the routes several times.

"As long as the fires aren't crazy. Think of Beatrice," Reno advised.

"They won't be," Rude promised. Reno shook his head.

"They might. These are Bugs. They're not that bright," he stuck his hands in his pockets. "There's always the back way."

"I'll be at the bridge," Rude insisted. "You _will_ come." Reno stared at him seriously for several long seconds.

"Can I have some succors?" he held out a hand. Rude gave him one.

"The rest when we meet," he gave Reno a significant look.

"Who's the wife in this outfit?" Reno whined as he snatched the pineapple treat and popped it into his mouth. They fell silent staring at the map. Rude breathed deeply as he tried to silence the nagging fear fixated on an array of 'what if's. "Don't let my succors melt," Reno suddenly socked him in the arm.

"That's your concern?" Rude demanded.

"A man needs his vices." Reno grinned again. "Meetcha at the bridge, hubby."

"Its a date."


	30. Infiltration

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 30: Infiltration

Midnight at long last. Rude didn't need his watch to tell him that. He felt it in every muscle the way a big cat knew when it was time to pounce. Without needing to be told two SOLDIERS hidden on the cliffs descended from their perch on Da Chao to clear out the temples and four more that had been creeping up on the tower sentries for the last six hours in microscopic incriments across the ground and huddling at the base of the wall finally made their move. Rude and the rest of the SOLDIERs gave it five extra minutes before he pressed his palm into the wall and activated the Ice Materia. The temperatures around them dropped as he chilled the rocks.

Simmons and the two more, Kip and Hesse, put their hands on the wall too. They had fire equipped. The extreme opposite temperatures made the stone crumble in as close to a noiseless explosion as one could get. Rumbling out the last of its protests the path was open.

"Tunnel down," Rude murmured into the comm link. "Regroup at the guard post."

"Temple cleared. We're looking for the passage mouth now," Wade burred softly, leader of the two that had cleared out the far more peaceable Da Chao monks.

"Guard house nearly secured. We'll be waitin' for you," came Arnon's drawl, team leader for the guard house. Rude took point following his internal compass south into a dank corridor. These passages were meant for pilgrims to complete a hike all the way through Da Chao and pray to the assorted Gods in Leviathan's pantheon. At midnight no one but the caretakers would be anywhere nearby.

Simmons and Hesse flanked Rude at the head of the infiltrating SOLDIERs. Rude held up one hand to halt his men as he vanished around a corner illuminated faintly by candle light. A woman was praying with her back to the passage to an eight foot reproduction of one of the Da Chao gods. Her kimono was expensive and she was older, perhaps in her mid fifties with a peppering of gray in her hair. Rude's stomach did a backflip.

"Orders," Simmons whispered. Rude could feel the expectation. They all knew what had to be done and the SOLDIERs wanted to know if their very young Turk commander had the grit to handle it.

"Please let him come home," the woman said to the statue. "Please let him come back."

Her unsuspecting neck broke without time for her to realize it had happened. Rude lowered her to the ground and folded her hands across her chest.

"Keep moving," he departed swiftly before his conscience could catch up. Was his mother on her knees praying for him right now? But this was war and if this pilgrim went further up the path to discover the breech she would alert someone.

Filtering down along the paths they encountered no one until brunet Wade detached from the shadows around them.

"Found 'em Eagan. All clear for you?" Wade asked over the comm link as he fell in with Rude.

"Coupla priests. Meetcha at the fork," the other SOLDIER assigned to the temples replied.

Eagan was as good as his word and joined the ranks as they swept by the fork. The temple was a neat affair of six clean kills with minimal resistance. Wade and Eagan had pulled them back out of the way so at first glance the room would seem empty. Snuffing candles as they passed Rude led his team out into the still warm night air. They hugged the cliff base and made for the wall and its outpost silently. Arnon and his team descended on them like spiders. He gave Rude a thumbs up and Rude nodded.

"Arnon you take the north side, Wade the south, and we'll come in from the west. Take out as many of the sentries upholding the protective spells. When the wall blows regroup and help get the others across. Simmons you're with me once the wall blows so we can get to the secondary target."

"Sir," was whispered through the group as several nodded. They disbanded into groups of five with Rude making up an extra sixth person in his. Arnon and Wade led their teams in different directions, Arnon descending straight down along the wall as Wade swept out wider. Rude angled his team south east as fast as he dared.

Reno and Sephiroth were waiting for the explosion. By now they'd be descending Da Chao a few miles south of Rude's entry point. It would take them time to creep through the streets but there was precious little to spare. Mullaney's comm links had a range of about fifteen miles which would be just barely enough to span the gap between the Sun Sect Temple and the Pagoda. Once the Materia came into full action though it was doubtful the connection would hold. Still it was comforting for Rude to have that nebulous connection between them.

Wutai was a place of walls and gardens, every house seemingly nestled into its own little courtyard. Their route was careful to avoid the more crowded commercial districts or the infamous red lantern houses. Instead they moved as wraiths through the sleeping city of curled roofs and artfully trimmed gardens with their clicking bamboo water features. Everything seemed perfectly serene, a half moon occaisionally throwing their shadows onto the ground in sudden bursts of phosphorescent illumination.

Rude's team scattered into cover at the sudden appearance of loud, drunken soldiers spilling into the streets. There were four slurring animatedly as a good natured host bowed them out of his garden gate, a lantern bobbing in one hand. Simmons' hand next to him went to the hilt of his sword. Rude clamped his over Simmons' wrist with a slight shake of his head.

Stumbling as they throatily roared a song they staggered in two pairs down the road. One almost ran into Hesse crouched in the narrow shadow of an alley. Hesse remained perfectly still with his eyes almost entirely shut, barely staring out from under his lashes. The soldier wretched, picked himself up, and staggered after his friends with lewd cat calls.

"Well done," Rude intoned softly when the team regrouped. Hesse shrugged.

There were no further incidents until they crouched like wolves around the Sun Sect Temple's outer wall.

"Arnon? Wade?" Rude prompted over the comm link.

"We're two miles out yet," Wade replied. "Detour. Somebody's having a street festival."

"Crazy Woots," someone else – Cyrin was his name? – grumbled.

"Keep creeping. No attention yet," Rude nodded.

"I hate sneaking," Leigh sighed behind Rude without broadcasting over the comm link.

"An unfortunate component in a sneak attack," Rude reminded him sharply. "Arnon."

"At the ready once Wade's done powderin' his nose." Arnon's drawl was laced with sarcasm. Someone growled – possibly Wade.

"Begin Arnon. No time. Wade cut due west from your present position. Moving on silent until I get the beads. Five minutes to clear out once I give the signal before I blow the wall." He switched the comm link to mute as there were confirmations. "Simmons, take the team and start cleaning house along the wall until you meet up with Wade."

"One man against all those monks?" Simmons frowned.

"I need these walls cleared."

"Keep Hesse," Simmons suggested.

"_Go_," Rude pointed. Simmons hesitated before snapping a salute and herding the other five SOLDIERs off on their new trajectory. A piece of Rude relaxed. SOLDIERs were more interested in action with little patience for infiltration not brought about in grand explosions. Alone he had a better shot of slipping in and back out of the facility unnoticed.

There was no time left to waste. Rude made his way around the Sun Sect's walls. Everyone's attention was focused on the City Wall half a mile away, not on an approach from Da Chao. The temple's focus was far away from him.

Scaling a nearby tree he pulled himself from the peach laden limbs onto the top of the temple wall, just peering over into the yard. He could see a few bodies across it, some pupils obviously suffering the wrath of a mentor by the way their bodies strained through familiar forms. Rude eeled over the wall and lowered himself as far as he could before dropping onto the other side to melt into the scant cover of a small red maple.

The students and their teacher were no use. The students were obviously novices and their teacher was down his right arm, the only place the beads could be worn in Sun Sect tradition. Rude left them to their grueling training in search of more useful prey.

His skin prickled as he ducked into a bamboo grove after circling around the back of the temple. Entering the actual building would be foolhardy. There were too many creaking boards and paper thin walls to make a true suprise attack a suprise or to conduct a fight without alerting the entire Monk population.

A plume of fire went up into the night sky so close Rude felt the bamboo leaves around him shrivel. Sweat trickled down his ribs as he stood absolutely still. The sound of footwork was followed by more fire. Peering through the stalks he spotted the monk working through his forms. Rude waited for a sparring partner to appear. Sure enough another monk stepped into this corner of the gardens.

"Restless?" the newcomer inquired, hands clasped behind his back.

"Something's not right," the original monk replied without losing his footwork.

"You know they hate it when you practice here," the new monk smiled, his eyebrows pinching as he studied the movements. "And really, you shouldn't worry about Fire if you can't even put your feet down right. What do you call that?" he stepped out of his sandals and squared his position to face the original monk. "Come at me and I'll prove you're legs are no good."

"You nag like a Sister," the first monk complained before complying.

Rude waited. This was his best shot but he'd have to act fast. Whoever he attacked first would have to be dead in the split second it would take the other to react. He watached the first monk eat the dirt as the second took his legs right out from under him. This happened two more times while Rude watched them circle around until the superior fighter's back lined up with the bamboo grove. They were still several feet away.

Using every muscle in his body Rude crept along the grove. Controlling everything from his breath to the placement of each finger and his worn shoe soles he managed to approach as the partners carried on with boasts and good spirited ribbing. Huddled there in the last shadows he waited for his target to swing round again.

When he did Rude watched the way his weight shifted to snap a kick at his companion. Rude slammed his heel sideways into the supporting knee and felt it give with a crack. The fighter collapsed with a thump as the other zeroed in on Rude emerging from his hiding place.

In the contraction of a heartbeat Rude was out of the bamboo and stamped down on the crippled monk's exposed windpipe. First threat neutralized. The second lashed out with a solid kick to Rude's mdiriff, almost catching his ribs. Rude was forced back a step which planted a foot on solid ground beyond the body of his first target. He needed to get the corpse out from under their feet. The second opponent was closing so Rude snapped his front foot out shoving him backwards and onto the ground. He saw the beads illuminate on the monk's right arm as he followed through the blow to close the distance between them.

His fingers curled around the beaded wrist as he angled just enough that the fire belching from the monk's palm only singed the back of his coat to plume uselessly into the sky. Twisting the arm so the joints locked and forced the monk to partially roll onto his other side in an attempt to alleviate the pressure Rude's toes snapped out into the side of the neck with another crack. The body went lax, shoulder and elbow grinding in the lifeless arm.

Rude wasted no time relieving both monks of their beads. Once they were secured around his neck and arm he carried each corpse back into the grove out of easy sight. Returning to the wall he managed to catch its edge with a running jump, pull himself over and lower back onto the ground. From there he wove back into the city streets before angling towards the city wall.

"Beads secured," he broadcast once he felt there wasn't anyone around to hear.

"Stud," Reno's voice came at long last. Rude exhaled silently as reassurance touched him.

"You're cleared about a mile going north along the wall," Arnon reported.

"Half mile south. Well done, sir," Simmons acknowledged.

"First outpost cleared at two miles south," Wade rumbled in dissatisfaction.

"How far for you to the wall Rude?" Sephiroth inquired.

"Quarter mile."

"Perfect. Carry out your orders upon arrival."

"Sir," Rude confirmed. He wanted to say something to Reno, the beast of uncertainty climbing back in to perch in his ribs. This wasn't the time or the place though.

"Next pay check says Mullaney's eyes roll back in her head for an orgasm when you give her those beads," Reno snickered over the comm link in complete disregard for the laws as set down by Sephiroth at the outset of the operation – "mission relative content only". Rude smiled.

"You're on," he answered despite the breach in protocol.

"Gentlemen," Sephiroth cut in as several of the SOLDIERs laughed. "Radio silence."

Things would work out as they always did. Reno's uncanny luck would pull him through and Rude would owe him a pay check when they got back. The knot of concern eased through Rude's chest as the wall loomed ever closer.

Rude laid his left palm on the wall and started with ice to make the stones and mortar brittle. He chilled it as much as he could, one eye on his surroundings despite the assurance that the outposts at the wall's top had all been cleared along with the watch set to alert the barracks upon barracks of soldiers stationed to hold the seige.

Behind him an alarm went up at the temple. Claning bells meant the bodies had been found. He paid no attention to the sounds suddenly filling the air. Instead he shifted to his right palm as he tapped into the miniature mastered Fire Materia. There were fifty total on every strand. Monks tended to tap into only one at a time but they could use them all at once in a focused blast. This technique took years to acquire. Lyn had beat it into him in six months of exhausting practice.

The strain of so many mastered Materia all at once pulled on his body like excess gravity. He was used to it now but it still was a physical drain. Backing away several paces Rude cast the spell and felt the fire explode upward, eating a quarter mile chunk of wall and throwing slag into the outskirts for almost a mile. The position of the waiting army had been anticipated and settled to either side of the intended breach.

Rude's ears rang with the aftermath as he scrambled to get out of the opening. Arms and legs pumping he sprinted south along the wall towards his secondary objective. Activating shield and protect to ward off the worst of anything thrown at him he didn't slow down. Once he was far enough away from the breach he could slow down but for now the safest tactic was to put distance between it and himself.

"Nice job sir!" Simmons exclaimed as he dropped from the wall to land next to Rude. He vaulted into a run to keep pace.

"Get back to the breach," Rude instructed over his shoulder as the rest of Simmons' team dropped down and began following.

"No sir. Wade and Arnon's teams will handle all that. We're your back up," Simmons shook his head.

"That's an order," Rude intoned.

"That was no ordinary use of Materia," Hesse came up on the other side, his long strides matching Rude's pace for pace. "You need as much energy as you can to do it a second time. We wouldn't volunteer to help just any Turk."

"But we don't have to sneak any more, right?" Leigh demanded from behind. Rude almost smiled at the odd sensation of comradarie.

"No," he replied.

"Great! I'll take point!" Leigh crowed passing them in a sudden burst of energy. Hesse looked annoyed and pushed forward. Wade's team passed them along the wall with waves and near cat calls on their way to the breach.

Rude and the SOLDIERs moved like a pack of wolves. Anything that got in their way was consumed without Rude having to lift a finger. The SOLDIERs fell on Imperials rushing towards the break with the fluidity of dancers, swords glinting in fire and moonlight. The Turk hadn't seen anything so magnificently destructive since his first crossing with Grim.

"Give me your Ice Materia," Simmons demanded as he dropped back to run beside Rude. "I'll frost the wall up ahead so you can just worry about Fire." Rude dislodged the Materia without protest and Simmons pulled ahead. "Set up a peremiter! Nothing gets to us!" he barked at the other SOLDIERs who peeled away to clear out any potential threats.

Simmons planted one hand on the wall with the other curled around Rude's Ice Materia. The rock and mortar gathered frost despite the heat. Rude threw a glance at the wraith like defenders executing a few enemy soldiers. Hesse snagged a bow from one archer, caught the arrow of another, and fired that same arrow back into its owner.

"Ready!" Simmons barked, falling back to stand between Rude and any possible threat.

Rude repeated the earlier process and felt the effect of it much more adversely. His muscles burned and black dots swam into his view. All the same he pushed and finally cast the spell dismantling another quarter mile of wall. Someone behind him whooped.

"Take cover sir," Simmons suggested, half dragging Rude out of the opening's center. His voice was muffled by the partial deafness brought on by the explosion. "We'll handle the rest."

"I have one more objective," Rude shook his head, fighting to shake off Simmons' guiding hand.

"Not according to the Captain," Simmons' brow wrinkled.

"Take charge here Simmons," Rude managed to sluff the grip as he braced against a nearby wall. Shin-Ra blue coats and their commanding SOLDIERs were beginning to come through.

"Take Hesse or Leigh or somebody," the small SOLDIER almost protested. His voice was too firm for that but the look in his eye said he was concerned. Rude shook his head. "Please sir, let us help you."

"Turk business," Rude shook his head. "Mind your orders and I'll handle mine." Simmons' throat grated in irritation. He passed a potion into Rude's hand. "I have – "

"Shut up and drink it. Keep yours for later," Simmons snapped. "If you're going go now sir, while the enemy's still reacting. This whole area'll be up in flames soon." Rude gave him a nod as Simmons saluted crisply. "Its been a honor sir. I don't know why you chose to be a Turk after surviving the treatment. We could use a man like you in SOLDIER."

"Pleasure was mine," Rude nodded back feeling a salute might come across derogatory. Turks didn't salute. "See you on the other side."

"I hope so," Simmons half grumbled.

Rude cut back into the city. He hid a few times from incoming troops but as the fires started behind him the Imperials were less observant of their immediate surroundings and more concerned with getting to the wall. Terrified non-combatants choked the street, too caught up in their panic to notice Rude slipping through alleys or at the fringe of their panicked stampede.

He arrived at the bridge panting. Dragging himself into the middle of it he turned to look back at the fires spreading between the wooden buildings in the direction from which he'd come. They were almost mesmerizing. Looking ahead now he could see the forms of Da Chao, the great gods frozen in their ferocious poses with the faces of warriors in battle. In the foreground was the Pagoda, a serene spike jutting up towards the sky. Sa Gong's Da Chao was tame as compared to these Gods and they were smaller.

Against the backdrop of the moon and the glimmer of fires against Da Chao's scowling faces something began to materialize. Rude's eyes widened as a great serpent seemed to fill the sky. Lightning cracked against the sky and sparked fires somewhere near the Pagoda. The serpant's roar shook the planks of the bridge as the river below swelled. Rude took a few involuntary steps backwards. He'd never seen anything so terrifying before. And Reno was somewhere near that thing alone.

"He'll come," Rude insisted softly to himself. "He'll be here." Curling his fingers around the bridge's railing he braced his feet, willing fate to obey.


	31. The Toad Prince

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 31: The Toad Prince

Sephiroth was more like a force of nature than a man. Reno had never seen anyone move the way he did. Everything from the way he had repelled down Da Chao like a great bird of prey to his dissolving into the shadows around them was preternatural. In contrast Reno felt like he made noise and fumbled along.

The Captain drew them to a halt with a silent hand signal. Reno watched from cover as two inches of the Masamune slipped free near the hilt. Sephiroth swept forward and in heartbeats had erradicated a military check point before the soldiers there could even react. Not even a drop off blood colored his coat in the torch light as Sephiroth beckoned Reno after him.

Reno stepped through the neatly cut bodies wondering how long before anyone noticed. His eyes flicked up to the crescent moon. Not too long before Rude would reach the temple so it didn't really matter he supposed.

"You're a handy guy to have around," Reno remarked as Sephiroth cleaned and sheathed the Masamune. Mullaney's work was beautiful. "They got more like you? Grim's good but he's not that good."

"No," Sephiroth answered too softly for Reno to be sure he'd heard a faint note of solemnity.

"That's too bad. This war would already be over," Reno stretched his shoulders as he sauntered ahead. Sephiroth made no reply and they fell back into their original pattern.

The walls around the central palace and the Pagoda loomed before them suddenly, great lion statues rising up on either side of the ornate red doors. A host of guards stood in the firelight at attention, their peculiar armor and demon masked helmets making them look supernatural. Reno and Sephiroth stared at them as they each considered the thirty foot walls between them and their objectives. Reno rubbed the back of his neck as he sought some way over or under.

Mullaney had given him three peculiar Materia, perhaps assuming that sneaking meant he wouldn't be fighting. One could inflict sleep or seal an opponents ability to tap into their Materia, the second could either shrink his enemy or transform him into a toad – other transformations were still experimental he'd heard – and the final blanketed him from quite a bit of damage.

"I could shrink us, or turn us into toads if there's a grate," Reno said thoughtfully as Sephiroth considered their options. The look he received was probably the most genuine expression Reno had ever seen on the Captain.

"I think we'll manage."

"Talk to your girl friend. She gave me this crap," he waved the bangle at Sephiroth. "Fine. If you're not secure enough to toad it over into never land there I guess we can try to find a way over. I could put any guys on the other side to sleep...and then turn them into toads."

Silence stretched between them.

"What? Can't a man make lemonade out of his lemons?"

"Your target will be inside the palace unless she happens to be praying at the top of the Pagoda," Sephiroth pointed. "Perhaps you can turn yourself into a toad once we're over the wall."

"How long does that last?" Reno inquired seriously as him mind turned back to the task at hand. "And will I lose my clothes?"

"Fifteen minutes. And no, you won't lose your clothing. That was corrected." Sephiroth grated out the last few words as if it was a threat.

"You're sure then? I can't lose the vial." Reno asked more because he wanted to know why Sephiroth was so emphatic.

"Do you know who works most of the R&D here?" the Captain inquired as Reno stared at him as seriously as he could without looking absurd.

"Mullaney?" he ventured.

"That was the very first thing she 'researched'. It was a long time before I went anywhere without auto-casting reflect."

Reno tried not to laugh audibly. The occaisional snort escaped or a strangled gasp for air to alleviate the burn in his sides as he crumpled to the ground. Sephiroth crossed his arms and the more forbidding he looked the harder Reno laughed.

Reno managed up onto his feet again. "So how do you want to...hold on," he fought off more laughter grinding tears out of his eyes. Sephiroth grew impatient and took him by the scruff of his neck. The Turk stumbled along, entirely unconcerned with their trajectory as he tried to clear the entire image from his mind so he might focus.

Sephiroth solved the issue of the wall himself as he slung Reno over his shoulder and drew a knife from his boot. With inhuman leaps that silenced Reno into startled alertness Sephiroth went up the wall, forcing a hand hold with the knife each time. Reno flung a sleep spell out on the few sentries at their feet as they crested the barrier and involuntarily wrapped his arms around Sephiroth's back as they plummeted all the way down the other side.

"Alright, you can still be legendary," Reno conceded as Sephiroth plopped him onto unsteady legs. "And that was not in my cocktail. What the hell man?" he pointed at his eyes in reference to Hojo's treatment.

"Better genetics?" Sephiroth shrugged. Reno shook out the rest of his jitters. "I'll go with you as far as the Emperor and Empress' chambers."

"Beads secured," Rude's voice suddenly crackled over the comm link startling Reno. He'd heard some of the happenings between the other team although there was the occaisional interference. He flipped off the mute button.

"Stud," he couldn't help the smile. Rude hadn't seemed to have any issues leading the SOLDIERs. Pride swelled in Reno's chest. His early fears of Rude falling apart amidst all the violence had melted away as his old friend made his place amidst the Turks.

"You're cleared about a mile goin' north along the wall," drawled one SOLDIER.

"Half mile south. Well done sir," Simmons' voice came through.

"First outpost cleared two miles to the south," rumbled another voice sounding irritated. Reno thought he might have caught a bit about a festival delaying one team.

"How far to the wall for you Rude?" Sephiroth inquired, his green eyes scanning the courtyard as he and Reno crept through the lush gardens.

"Quarter mile." Rude sounded less tense.

"Perfect. Carry out your orders upon arrival," the Captain instructed.

"Sir," Rude agreed. Reno was still trying to stop grinning. He paused on their manicured path watching Sephiroth continue ahead.

"Next pay check says Mullaney's eyes roll back in her head for an orgasm when you give her those beads," he snickered thinking of Mullaney laying in wait for Sephiroth.

"You're on," Rude sounded like he was grinning. Other men laughed too.

"Gentlemen," Sephiroth leveled a crippling look at Reno. "Radio silence." Reno muted his headset with a heavy sigh. He fell in behind the legendary SOLDIER wondering how long it had taken Mullaney to pull off her ambush and if she'd been rewarded for her efforts.

A little voice cried out ahead. Reno instinctively crouched along the wooded path and surged through the shadows. He lurked in the peony bushes like an animal, Sephiroth on the other side of the path as it opened out into a courtyard.

"Get up, get up!" barked a handsome Wutain man in their language. He was dressed in the close fitting shinobi attire, pacing back and forth as a child picked itself up out of the dirt. Reno's muscles clenched as he recognized Yue Fei immediately, her little bob sticking to her sweaty forehead. She was covered in bruises, the knees of her own miniature uniform torn out to expose the sluggishly bleeding abraisions.

Assuming her stance again Yue Fei attacked the handsome man. Reno watched her technique, excellent for a child her age, and observed how her instructor ruthlessly put her back on the ground. He felt her pain as the man twisted her arm back into a submission applying pressure just shy of breaking the joins. She grit her teeth as tears sprang to her eyes but wouldn't tap out. Instead she struggled, shifting her weight in search of some way to break his hold.

"You're dead. Get up," he shoved her back. Yue Fei struggled up, tremors running through the arm used to submit her. She turned on him with fierce concentration. Reno grimmaced as she wound up pinned or knocked back without restraint a few more rounds. Across the path Sephiroth was watching with his face a complete blank. Something was happening behind his eyes although Reno couldn't tell what. His best guess was that even the Legendary SOLDIER had reservations about cutting down a little girl.

"Dead, dead, dead! We're in the middle of a war and you can't even fight!" the man raged as Yue Fie struggled back to her feet. Her hands came up feebly. "You think they'll show you mercy? If you give them the chance these Midgar dogs will cut your throat. No, you were born a Kisaragi and you'll die as one of us if it is our fate in this war."

"Yes father," she nodded resolutely.

"Go. Put yourself to bed," Emperor Godo's lip curled disdainfully as he turned away from her. Elite Shinobi materialized before him just fast enough that Sephiroth relaxed back from his anticipated attack.

"Yes father," Yue Fei nodded. Reno gave Sephiroth a two fingered salute before moving through the gardens after Yue Fei's retreating back. She was his ticket into that building.

When there was distance between the Emperor and himself Reno cast the transform magic. The world grew up around him as his form crouched painlessly, his muscles shifting with disconcerting fluidity as if they'd never been properly attached from the start.

It took two botched attempts before his body recalled the leapfrog game in the yards at Lola's work house. Drawing from those memories he found his body respond more automatically as he vaulted after Yue Fei's limping retreat towards a side door. She stumbled and went down on a knee, both hands fisting on her little thighs as she fought to master the pain. Reno plopped at her side and croaked the closest thing to commiseration he could manage.

"You're a ways from the pond," Yue Fei observed like she wasn't trying not to cry. Reno croaked again. She hoisted herself back to her feet and carried on boldly. Reno hopped along after her. She glanced at him a few times before her brows pinched in confusion. "That way. Pond," she indicated like an annoyed big sister. Reno only gave her a cheerful ribbit as he continued pursuit. She stopped at the doors next to the guards, hands on her hips.

"What's wrong princess?" inquired one.

"He keeps following me Daisuke," she pointed accusingly. The guard squatted and pushed back his helmet to expose a youthful face.

"Perhaps he thinks you're pretty and you'll turn him into a prince with a kiss," Daisuke offered with a crooked smile. Reno refrained from rolling his eyes. The light was too good and they might catch it. Yue Fei rolled her eyes for him. "You could sneak him into Asa's room though. Wouldn't that give her a start," he winked. A smile cleaved Yue Fei's face in two. In record time she had captured Reno and promptly pushed into the palace with him in both hands.

_'Thank you guard,'_ he thought, content to bob along until something looked promising.

"Hey wait up," someone grabbed the back of Yue Fei's bob cut after several minutes in silence. She jerked to a halt almost losing hold of Reno. She was turned around to face an older boy with Godo's same handsome face. "Looks like you were at it again with dad," he snickered. Yue Fei kicked at his shins and he released her with a yelp. Another boy took her by the shoulders roughly.

"Rikuo! Asahi! You better let go!" she threatened.

"I'm terrified," the one behind her sing-songed derisively.

"Hey, whatcha got there?" the first one asked making a grab for Reno. His heart hammered against his ribs as he squirmed in the new vice grip. "Eew, its a toad," he waved Reno dizzyingly at the other boy.

"Cut it out Asahi!" Yue Fei commanded.

"Or what? Your mom's not even here right now," Asahi scoffed. "Just dad and it looks like he's not too happy with your performance either, little _heiress_," he spat. Rikuo twisted Yue Fei's arm around bringing her to the ground. She grunted, still refusing to cry out. "How long do you think before its eyes bug out?" Asahi squeezed Reno's middle. His lungs constricted and pressure built everywhere.

"No don't!" Yue Fei protested only to have her arm pulled further back.

"Or what?"

"Don't hurt it! It didn't do anything to you!"

_'I will _kill_ you,'_ Reno vowed silently as he squirmed in Asahi's crushing grip. At this rate his guts would roll up out of his throat. His throat...

Reno shot his tongue into Asahi's eye. The boy squealed and flung him. Reno slammed against the wall before plummeting two feet to the floor. Dazed he tried to pick himself up and hop away. Asahi snatched his back leg dangling him in the air.

"I'll pull your legs off you gross thing!" Asahi shouted. Yue Fei made a noise and broke Rikuo's distracted hold. She nailed him in the jaw and then ran at Asahi. Rikuo had her again quickly in a bear hug, her little feet kicking as he lifted her off the ground.

"Stop it Asahi!"

"You want it so bad? Fine. Kiss him and if he turns into a prince I'll give him back," Asahi man handled Reno around and pushed him into Yue Fei's face. She wrinkled her nose and Asahi resumed squeezing. Reno squirmed with a weak croak.

_'Wear off spell dammit. Its been fifteen minutes, hasn't it? Wear off, for the love of God!'_

"If I kiss him you'll put him down?" Yue Fei demanded desperately.

"If he turns into a prince," Asahi nodded. Yue Fei looked at Reno pleadingly and he could see the prayer in her brown eyes. She leaned forward and gave him a kiss.

"Holy shit!" Asahi's voice cracked. Reno knocked the boy out clean with a back hand before he snapped his other fist forward into Rikuo's chin. Both boys unconscious he looked down at Yue Fei standing wide eyed and red faced with a hand over her mouth.

"That was the very best kiss I have ever had," Reno put his hands on her shoulders grinning. Before she could react he cast the spell for sleep and she folded into his arms as her eyes rolled back. "Oh my, you will be pretty one day," Reno smiled affectionately down at her as he pushed hair back out of her bruised face. "I had better be careful. You might be my type then yo."

The ground shook with an explosion. Instinctively Reno knew it was Rude at work.

He hesitated now. If he left her there was no guarantee she would live. Of course she wasn't his concern and the implied order was that she should be killed. He would go out on a limb and say her owing him for the Sephiroth fiasco of a two years ago was settled since she'd been willing to unwittingly kiss him in a desperate attempt to save him from her half siblings. Really all business was settled between them and chances were good she'd just wind up executed later.

"If you're still here when I come back I'll take you with me," Reno resolved settling her gently on the floor. He barely ducked into an empty side chamber before feet filled the hallway.

"Prince Asahi! Prince Rikuo! Princess Yuffie!" called a woman. He spied from his empty room as more people gathered, all of them servants by their uniform dress.

"Leviathan help us! They're here in the courtyard!" someone else screeched as a crack of lightning sounded. Reno could smell the smoke and assumed Sephiroth had begun his assault on Godo.

"You two take these ones and round up the other children! I'll find the concubines!" the first woman instructed, a senior staff member.

"We have to get to the Bride!" a particularly thin girl wrung her hands.

"She was in her room last," the first woman insisted. "I'll get her!" She made certain the children were carried away before bolting past Reno's room. He managed to slip free and give chase. They only made it down one hallway before guards careened around the next corner. Reno didn't balk as he snapped his night stick free with the wakizashi clutched in his other hand. They weren't anticipating anyone already in the building yet so he was ready for combat before they were. Two were down before they could even draw and the third was dead when his strike missed by a hair's breadth.

Reno's formerly unwitting guide shrieked adding her voice to the many now filling the palace. Reno caught her by the hair and brought her to her knees.

"Where is the Bride?" he demanded. Tears in her eyes she refused to answer. Reno ran his wakizashi along her back. "Where is she?" he repeated over her cry. She still refused and he repeated this through a few lies before she finally broke.

"Two hallways down and follow the Leviathan tapestry," she wept. Reno slit her throat and continued.

Sure enough he pushed open the shoji to expose a shrine dedicated to Leviathan. Inside sat a woman in an ornate kimono, her hair trailing down her back to puddle behind her as she prayed. When she turned to look at Reno she hardly seemed surprised to see him, her narrow eyes cold. She stood up, the blue kimono embroidered in golden dragons and silver pearls shimmering. A wakizashi slid out of her sleeve. Reno sheathed his and extracted the carefully kept syringe.

"Hello beautiful," he greeted. Another explosion made the whole palace tremble. Kisaragi Akemi was hardly concerned as she shed the outer layers of her kimono until she was just in the semi translucent udergarments. "What a waste," he whistled.

Akemi was fast. Reno barely had time to block the wakizashi when he ate a palm heel to the face. That single blow told him everything he needed to know. He let her strike again and easily overpowered it. Now on the offensive it took two more blows before he was able to drop her into a submission on the ground. With a quick jerk he delivered the yellow toxin via the shoulder and knocked her unconscious.

Now all that remained was the escape. He threw her kimono back over her first before setting off with the intent of avoiding anyone that might be on their way to grab her for an evacuation. Reno was halfway out of a window on the second floor intending to jump down rather than fight through the crush of people vying for the exits when he saw Leviathan.

Ifrit was a terror to behold but Leviathan was as captivating as the sea. All sparkling azure scales burnished silver and red by the night time turmoil it wound across the sky with an earth shaking roar. Equally as magnificent was Sephiroth soaring through the air with the Masamune drawn like a glittering fang. It flashed across some scales, sparking. Lightning struck the beast next and though it didn't react the crackle of electricity rippled down its sinewy undulations.

Leviathan moved suddenly as if sprung from a trap. He shot towards Sephiroth's landing on one of the outlying buildings. The place fell like so many toothpicks. Sephiroth however soared overhead in a graceful arch, his silver hair catching like the serpent's scales. His boots landed on the beast and he drove the Masamune down into the muscled flesh. Lightning channeled directly into his sword making Leviathan shudder. Bucking the SOLDIER off the enemies separated.

Another patch of city suddenly went up in flames. Reno swore softly. He dropped from his perch and rolled out the extra momentum. If he didn't hurry he wouldn't meet with Rude in time.

"I'm done," Reno said into the comm link. "Orders?"

"Have you seen – " there was a pause as Sephiroth danced out of Leviathan's way. "Where is the Empress?"

"I don't think she's here," Reno answered. "Gossip in the palace."

"Go then. I'll worry about – "

The comm link screamed into static as spells suddenly ricocheted off Sephiroth's reflection spell. Reno spotted his ground bound assailants easily.

"Sorry bud. I can't leave this job half done," Reno sighed as he made for the groups gathered to take Sephiroth down. There were enough of them he doubted even the Legendary SOLDIER could manage alone.

Pulling the pin from his one flash bomb he lobbed it into their distracted midst. It went off with a bang and he charged in with his wakizashi and night stick. Disoriented as they were he'd cut through a good five before anyone was ready to actually defend themselves. Someone flung a misplaced gravity attack that wound up compacting another Wutai soldier. Reno lobbed a quick series of transform spells and made sure to come down on the vulnerable toads with the heel of his shoe. He situated barrier spells followed by reflect on himself and then sealed up the Materia of particular targets, all while butchering his way through them.

"Didn't you hear me say go?" Sephiroth demanded when he stood panting in the midst of his bloody handiwork and the magic use had died down.

"You're welcome," he sighed.

"Go now. The fires are getting worse," Sephiroth commanded. "It's an – !" Leviathan's tail caught him about the middle and slammed him into the palace. The Captain crashed clean through the wood in a series of thumps.

"Ah shit. Are you dead? I'm _not_ telling Mullaney."

"Don't be ridiculous," Sephiroth grunted. Leviathan seemed to shiver, his body glistening. "I hope you're a strong swimmer Turk," his voice crackled against the magic interference.

"Ah god," Reno sheathed the wakizashi and secured his night stick. "I shoulda run and let them cook your ass."

"Find high ground," Sephiroth advised.

"Let me just jump on that," he snapped, scrambling towards one of the shattered buildings. He bolted up the broken timbers, gaining precarious height as Leviathan transitioned fantastically from serpant into a sheer wall of water. Reno was only two stories high staring up at the boiling tsunami. "Sorry Rude. I'm gonna go make out with Cassie."


	32. Survivors

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 32: Survivors

Rude laced his fingers together to keep them from shaking. Braced on his knees he sat staring at the aftermath of the attack from a veranda in the Shin-Ra camp. What wasn't burned to a cinder had been devastated by a tidal wave that had come from nowhere. Buildings still smoldered and smoke choked the air. But the city was theirs.

Reno hadn't come. Rude had waited, watching whatever he could see of the fight with Leviathan and refused to move even when the tidal wave swelled in the serpent's place. Surely Reno would come bolting up the road shouting about Woots and their crazy rituals. Instead only water had come crashing towards him in a rush.

He would have picked through the city carnage himself if he hadn't wound up pinned in debris and half drowned. Enlsited blue coats had spotted him and hauled him free, ignoring his protests as they dragged him back to camp. Now he sat outside the meidcal building watching everyone they carted along, praying one of them was Reno.

"The circuits are blown. You're lucky you didn't fry yourself," Mullaney pulled the communicator off the side of his head. Rude twisted around to snatch it back when she put a fresh one on his ear. The arms of her jumpsuit were tied around her waist to expose the black tank top so in contrast with her snowy skin and fair hair. Blood soaked through bandages along her left arm and a patch tied over the same side. Her face was blackened with soot and ash.

"Come on Turk. You're coming with me now," her fingers curled around his shoulder. "We're going into the city."

Rude stood up immediately. Mullaney kept one hand on his elbow as she shouldered through the people gathered around them, the dead and they dying flooding the building. Rude searched them for red hair and green eyes, half praying Reno was amongst them. They climbed into a jeep and Mullaney handed him an assault rifle. She turned the engine over, her pale face grim as she looked at the attack's carnage.

"Dammit Mullaney! You can't go in there!" Simmons suddenly threw himself against the hood. His eyes flicked to Rude. "Sir! You can't be serious! Neither of you are fit for duty let alone a crossing!"

"The city is ruined and whoever didn't make it up onto Da Chao is either burned up or drowned or in some between state. Move Don," Mullaney growled.

"No!" Simmons shoook his head, bared arms flexing as if to keep the jeep from moving forward.

"I'll run you over," she threatened as she reved the engine into a throaty snarl.

"Get in Simmons," Rude sighed holding up another rifle tucked in the back. Simmons' frown deepened as he hesitated.

"Dammit woman. Damn you," he came around and sprang into the back seat nimbly. Snatching the rifle he checked the safety and that his ammunition was full. "Don't even have my sword," he grumbled as Mullaney peeled onto a dirt road.

"I can throw you overboard if that'd be more agreeable," Mullaney snapped as they jostled over the uneven ruts. Simmons growled but offered no further argument. In the silence that followed Mullaney's hand tightened around the gear shift until the skin on her pale knuckles was sallow. Rude could see the tension in her jaw. Behind them Simmons was facing the rear, assault rifle at the ready.

He laid his hand briefly over the back of hers and squeezed. Mullaney didn't look at him. As he retracted she snagged his palm and squeezed back.

"Patience was never a virtue," she released him and resumed the gear shift. "That's all. I'm impatient."

"Me too," Rude joined in the lie.

_- Yue Fei - _

Yue Fei hacked water out of her lungs as she pulled herself up out of the muck. Things were all jumbled up in her memory. Something about toads and then there was the evacuation and being herded. She remembered calling for her mom and watching Leviathan appear. And then her brother's son Shunji had slipped and she'd gone back to shove him along the path since no one else seemed to notice in their hurry to escape. And then the water had come pulling her from the rocks and...

"Where am I?" she shook her head to try and focus. Wincing as she stood up on soar muscles she looked around the mud and debris. Distantly she could see the Pagoda still standing somehow and a profile of one of the Da Chao gods. Predawn was beginning to color the sky.

"Don't panic. Ninjas don't panic," she told herself. The only thing to do was move towards the Pagoda and hope she could find the others. Surely her father would be nearby.

Yue Fei shivered as she took the first step back towards the Pagoda. She'd been swept all the way to the far wall in the south that butted up against the cliffs. It was going to be a long way as she tried to ignore the despairing voice insisting that no one would be waiting there, not after such a Shin-Ra attack. Squaring her shoulders she told herself to carry on. She was the crown princess of Wutai after all.

She began noticing the strange shapes caught in the wreckage, the pale forms poking out of muck or wood or stone. Everything else she could more or less recognize but not these things. Her curiosity got the better of her as she passed a large pile. Pausing for an examination she reached uncertain fingers out. An arm flopped towards her lifelessly. In her horror she followed it to the vacant, swollen face with opaque eyes.

Suddenly the shapes all made sense. They were everywhere, the battered bodies of the dead. Anywhere she turned she could see them choking the streets like washed out leaves in a gutter. Tears ran down her face as she bolted, running blindly away in fear and wrenching sorrow. How could this be? How could this happen to Wutai?

Tripping Yue Fei sprawled headlong into the chest of another corpse. Scrambling away into the eves of a sagging house she curled up sobbing. Her tinny wails were the only sound in the unnatural stillness. They grew more desperate with emotions too violent and numerous to name. It didn't matter that Kisaragis weren't supposed to cry. What else could be done here?

"N-neh," a voice came weakly. Yue Fei went silent as her eyes fixed on the corpse she'd hit smack in the chest. Water burbled out of the mouth as its eyes rolled open. Glimmering Mako eyes. "No cry," he hacked up more water. "I hate when you girls cry."

"A-are you okay?" Yue Fei sprang towards him. Her hands set down on his chest and his mud covered face wrinkled in agony. Drawing her palms back she saw the red blood covering them.

"I have been better," he replied in stilted Wutain. She wiped his blood onto her sopping clothing and cleaned the mud from a patch of his hair. Red.

"Mako-chan..." she breathed the name she'd given him. He smiled weakly. "I should kill you!" she pulled out the wakizashi from his side. "Look what you did to our city! Look at what you did to Wutai!"

"That is fair," he closed his eyes as a grimmace ran through him. Yue Fei pushed the knife to his throat. Mako-chan didn't resist or even open his eyes. His breathing gurgled up through him in wet gasps like maybe there was still water in his chest.

"M-Mako-chan?" she called his name. One green eye cracked open with evident effort. "A-are you dying?"

"Yeah. Better hurry or you will lose your chance." His lips twitched like he wanted to smile. Always smiling she thought. Putting down the wakizashi she became more afraid of existing alone amidst all these dead. Sitting on her knees she hunted his chest for the source of his pain and spotted it in a jutting bit of timber thrust between his ribs. "I would do anything for a cigarette," he gurgled a sigh that dissolved into coughs.

"Why were you a toad?" she asked him sitting on her knees because she didn't know what else to do.

"A bad piece of luck that was," he offered her a real grin this time, blood staining his teeth. "Thanks for the magical kiss princess."

"Magical kiss?" she frowned. A finger of hope touched her heart. Mako-chan's head drooped as he focused on breathing, swallowing hard. She leaned forward taking his cheeks in both hands and pressed her lips against his.

_'Please, oh please, don't let him die,'_ she prayed irrationally. He was so cold. _'Please let there be just a little more magic. Just a little, please!' _When she leaned back his eyes were shut and his breathing was so shallow. The tears came again.

"Its supposed to be a magic kiss!" she insisted. "Come on, magic! It worked before!" Mako-chan remained immobile. Despertaely she tried again through her tears.

Mako-chan gasped and hunched forward hacking. Startled Yue Fei scrambled backwards into a boot. She watched blood and phlegm spatter the ground beneath the red head and saw the timber had been ejected. The wash of relief quickly vanished as she remembered it was a boot supporting her back.

Sephiroth was unmistakeable. He stalked her dreams with his long silver hair and the black uniform, heartless green eyes searching for her. The blood drained from her face as their eyes met.

"What a charmed life you lead," Sephiroth said looking to Mako-chan. The red head was crawling towards them. He took Yue Fei's arm and dragged her with surprising strength behind himself.

"There were not orders," he wheezed looking up at Sephiroth.

"I thought it would be too much for you," the Captain shook his head. "Can you stand? I'm not keen on carrying you back."

"What about the girl?"

"She can walk. I see no need to offer to carry her." Sephiroth's eyes slid to Yue Fei. He was tired, silver hair water logged and uniform torn. Blood ran along one arm and patched stains at the opposite side of his torso. Mako-chan breathed a heavy sigh of relief before levering onto his feet. He held a hand out to Yue Fei. She took it, keeping his wakizashi in her other hand.

So Yue Fei found herself in strange company as they traversed the devastated city. Her eyes slid frequently to Sephiroth or up to Mako-chan limping along with her hand clutched in his. The red head seemed as uncertain of Sephiroth's motives as she was.

There was only one pause as Mako-chan went suddenly pale and braced on his knees. Sweat stood out on his forehead. Sephiroth laid a hand on his shoulder and the fit passed so they could resume.

After a while Mako-chan said something in their language. Yue Fei tried to make out the gravelly words to no avail as some serious conversation happened between them. Mako-chan shook his head at what might have been a question, his eyes flicking to her and away. They were silent before Sephiroth quietly ventured some statement that made Mako-chan look at him incredulously. The Captain advanced and Mako-chan knelt painfully next to Yue Fei. He took her shoulders as he looked her in the eye seriously.

"Do you know where your family went to escape?" Yue Fei nodded in answer. "Hurry and go to them before any patrols find you. Here," he gave her one of the Materia orbs in a bangle around his wrist. "Its not much of a defense but you can use it."

"I thought I was your captive?" she frowned.

"So did I. Hurry, before he changes his mind," Mako-chan gave her a push. "And do not kiss strangers any more. You are wasting all your magic kisses." Yue Fei blushed. Mako-chan snapped the scabbard over the wakizashi and pushed her again. "Take those things and go Yue Fei!"

"What, um, what's your name?" she asked. He seemed surprised.

"Landon. You can call me that since we kissed and all."

"I'm gonna call in that favor!" she brandished the scabbarded wakizashi at him. "One day when I'm a real lady and you can't say no I'm gonna make you pay up for those kisses."

"I will be waiting for that day princess," he gave her a roguish grin. Yue Fei ran before her face could complete the transition to brilliant crimson.

_- Rude -_

"There!" Rude pointed. He was out of the jeep before Mullaney had even finished squealing to a halt. Sephiroth and Reno were both moving painfully along the washed out road they had just passed. Rude's arms and legs pumped as he bolted towards the haggard duo.

"Hubby!" Reno beamed coming to a stop. Rude pulled up short as he put a hand on Reno's shoulder.

"Drink," he proferred the Full-Cure potion. Reno swallowed about half as his color came back before handing the rest to Sephiroth. The Captain accepted and downed his portion. "How do you feel?"

"Like I could do it again. What is that?" he craned his head to look at the bottle. Rude hit his friend so hard Reno dropped to his knees hugging his gut. He wallowed almost a full minute in the mud as Sephiroth observed all this with mild interest.

"You are the most inconsiderate man I know," Mullaney complained as she caught up and was able to circle her Captain. She almost tripped over Reno. With a distasteful curl off her lip she pushed him aside with her boot and resumed her circling. "You're never on time for anything. You were due back two hours ago."

"You were out on the fronts again," Sephiroth took her bandaged arm.

"_Somebody_ has to work these contraptions you demand. Would you trust any of your bright eyed nimrods to operate one?" she tried to pull it away. Sephiroth pressed a kiss onto the back of her hand.

"Mullaney, Mullaney, you're going to get truly hurt one day and then what will I do?" he asked as he looked at her from under his lashes. Mullaney turned bright pink.

"Then finish this war so we can go home," she barked extra loud.

"Are we getting a divorce?" Reno looked up from the ground. Rude helped him stand.

"Don't _ever _stand me up again," he shook his head. He offered the only waterlogged succor to survive. Reno smiled at him and accepted the candy.

"Are we done making out?" Simmons called irritably from the jeep.

"Oh honey I don't have that kind of energy. Save it for later," Reno patted Rude's chest before hobbling in the direction of the jeep.

"If it was so simple," Mullaney grumbled. She took Sephiroth by the wrist like she was afraid he might run back towards the city and the Captain allowed her to drag him. "Get outta my driver's seat Don!"

"I thought you'd want to cuddle," Simmons shot back with a venomous look of envy.

"I'll cuddle," Reno offered patting the back seat next to him. Mullaney punched him in the shoulder mercilessly. "Ow! Not with you Witch Queen! Who'd cuddle with you? I meant the Captain!"

Sephiroth sat down in the front seat entirely unfazed. There was almost a smile on his face. Rude climbed into the middle between Reno and Simmons. In less than one jostling minute Reno was sound asleep against his shoulder.

"So what now?" Mullaney chanced a look at Sephiroth as they bumped down the streets. "The city's obliterated. Capitol's gone."

"The Empress was absent and Godo managed to slip my grasp in all of it," Sephiroth replied. "But their strong hold is gone. They still have home field advantage but its a solid blow. Once the Bride starts acting strangely I think whatever sway Godo has will swiftly crumble."

"You're in a good mood," the vollatile weapon smith observed.

"The seige is over."

"Yeah so? I've seen you win before. You look happy, not satisfied."

"It was a strange night is all," Sephiroth looked at her profile as she drove. Mullaney didn't dare take her eyes from the road although color crept down the back of her neck at such intense observation. "Thank you for coming to collect us Mullaney."

"You...you're welcome," she muttered.


	33. A Matter of Soul

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 33: A Matter of Soul

Reno whistled an old Midgar tune from his childhood, one of Cassie's terrible pop favorites that used to come through on the radio he'd fixed for her at least six times growing up. He checked the barrel of the gun he was cleaning as he remembered Cassie's perfume and what her laugh sounded like. In the two years since her death she would manifest infrequently when he found himself alone and out of imminent danger. Sometimes he thought of her in the kitchen, other times with her little visor as she counted bills, but mostly he imagined her berrating him for his choice of life.

"You're giving me a headache!" Mullaney smacked the back of his head. Reno sucked blood out of the new cut on his tongue for about three seconds, pursed his lips, and whistled louder. This time when her hand came at him he shifted his head slightly so it sailed harmlessly past him. Mullaney simply hooked her arm up to choke him out.

"I won't finish..." he hacked, struggling to get his fingers into the crook of her arm. The pressure vanished. Reno took a deep breath of sweet air. Before he could even respond to the tearing sound a patch of duct tape had sealed his mouth.

Mullaney stalked past Reno in the canvas covered truck to sit by the tail gate, leaning out the back to watch the Wutai countryside pass. Simmons muttered curses up front where Mullaney had just evacuated. Across from Reno sat Rude, his head tilted down as he dozed. He'd been adopted by the surviving SOLDIERs from the seige and so found most of his time eaten up partaking in their routine training and running with them on patrols or scouting missions. This was the first sleep he'd managed in almost two days.

Reno started humming the same song guessing it would take about a verse before Mullaney turned back to attack him. She ran a hand through her damp hair, face pale as she settled back against the side of their transport. Just as he got to the refrain she crawled towards him and mercilessly ripped the tape from his mouth.

"Now I have to shave!" he hissed rubbing the sticky patches of stripped stubble.

"_Stop._ You're nothing but a noise machine!" she complained.

"You're gonna wake Rude up woman," Reno grumbled as she rubbed her temples. "Maybe _you_ should take a nap."

"If you weren't so bent on that insipid song," she ground the heel of her palm into one eye. Reno's eyebrows came together as she unzipped her jumpsuit and tied the sleeves around her waist. Sweat glistened on her shoulders, beading along her temples. He shoved his canteen towards her.

"Drink that," he instructed.

"No way. You put something in it," she moved towards the tail gate again, wilting over the edge. Her breathing was shallow. Reno sucked on his tongue again.

"Hey Simmons! What's her problem?" he called loudly.

"Tiny moving spaces," Simmons answered. "Big transports or stationary small spaces don't bug her but enclosed vehicles do." Reno lifted his eyebrows in surprise. Mullaney was draped over the tail gate after sweating through her bandages and the back of her tank top. He continued cleaning the assorted armaments in their truck as she had demanded, making a conscious effort at silence.

"Will you die?" Sephiroth asked when the convoy at last had come to a stop late in the evening. Mullaney looked the better part of dead, her arms hanging heavy over the tail gate with her chin on the edge staring blindly into his chest. The sound of his voice seemed to bring her out of her stupor.

"You should be so lucky," she growled as she sat upright. Her face was still pale. Sephiroth offered her an apple.

"Orchards at the house ahead. There's a bath waiting for you inside," he pointed.

"I'm fine," she quipped despite the rose color blooming in her cheeks and the thrilled smile she was trying to dampen. Sephiroth pulled the tail gate down as Mullaney slid onto the ground.

"We're here," Reno shook Rude's foot gently. Rude came around silently, his head lifting.

"You should drink something," Rude instructed as he zeroed in on Mullaney crunching into her apple. Her pale eyes flicked to him.

"Shleeping booty," she slurred around her bite. "Nishe nap?" Rude rolled a kink out of his neck before sliding out of the truck. He handed her his water canteen.

"Oh sure, trust him," Reno rolled his eyes as she drank deeply. He scooted stiffly to the tail gate where he sat dangling his legs.

"I've left orders with Simmons and his unit not to disturb you. Tomorrow you and Reno depart for Sa Gong. Verdot has new orders," Sephiroth informed them as Mullaney took another satisfying chunk out of her fresh apple. Rude gave him a crisp nod as his hand hovered a hair's breadth from touching the mechanic's back. With the lightest pressure he guided Mullaney towards the high garden walls of the estate meant to house the officers as enlisted men and lower ranks pitched tents and pulled supplies from the assorted convoy vehicles. She moved without protest, mollified by the apple and still tired. Reno watched her turn to look back at Sephiroth. Rude said something that made her reflexively crack her elbow against his bicep.

"You'd better be careful yo. Rude might snatch her out from under you," Reno grinned kicking his legs.

"I wonder," Sephiroth mused with a tilt of his head. "This is the mate. Its still experimental but it will prove useful." The Captain produced a glimmering yellow materia, an exact duplicate to the one Sephiroth had discreetly passed him and he had given to Yue Fei. He smiled.

"Lyn'll be happy," he observed, turning the sphere in the fading dusk. Sephiroth merely nodded as his green eyes sought some answer beneath the Turk's flesh.

"I wonder where the Turk ends and the boy begins?"

"Can't you at least call me a man after everything?" Reno batted his lashes.

"Almost," Sephiroth turned to go. He scanned the bustling troops with removed serentiy. "But perhaps this war will make you into something more comprehensible." The fingers of his right hand curled into a fist as he studied them almost like they didn't belong to him.

"Loosen up Captain," Reno slapped his shoulder as he swung off the tail gate. With a loud clang he hinged it upright. "Right now there's water for a bath, I'm sure Rude's got a few succors left, and if you're lucky Mullaney might pass out early. Life's good."

"Neurotic," Sephiroth shook his head as he checked his shoulder guards. " 'Wasted' days in convoys make her neurotic. She'll be up all night." Reno recognized the shimmer of a reflection spell and grinned.

"More research huh?" he thumbed his nose. "We'll just snag a couple of bikes early tomorrow morning and get out of your hair then."

"As you wish," the Captain granted before departing with long strides towards the rest of the camp. Simmons climbed out of the truck finally with a pack slung over his shoulder, glowing eyes following Sephiroth.

"The Captain's something else," he shook his head as Reno reflexively checked his pockets for a cigarette. "Glad he's with us."

"Only because it keeps Mullaney around," Reno jibed as they moved towards the house. Simmons gave him a sour look.

"Yeah, she follows wherever he leads," the small SOLDIER admitted gratingly. "Been that way since I joined up and got dumped on this godless rock. If I could just..." he trailed off.

"Become taller?" Reno guessed idly. His reward was a hard look from the other man. "Don't leave your sentances half said yo."

"For you two," Simmons pushed the pack into Reno's chest as they reached the gates. "And no, all of this is man enough to handle her if I could just catch her attention, _sir_." He squared his shoulders and lifted his chin proudly.

"Better hurry before Rude catches it," he smiled.

"Good thing you're leaving tomorrow then Sir," Simmons saluted crisply and departed. Reno sauntered into the occupied house, stepping out of his worn shoes so he could pad along in threadbare socks to a room marked out as theirs by Rude lying close to an open shoji with his arm thrown over his eyes. His chest rose and fell gently in the dusk dressed only in his undershirt and boxers, his clothing already spirited away by shy household servants. One scuttled behind Reno on nearly silent feet.

Reno cleaned himself up out in the courtyard as Rude had evidently already done and passed his things off to a servant that happened to materialize beside him. It was a curious luxury the way the servants almost huanted their steps.

Stretching out on the futon made up for him along tatami matts not far from Rude, Reno settled on his back and closed his eyes. He wanted another succor but Rude was already asleep. Reno could easily find the stores but then all of Rude's thoughtful rationing would go to waste. So he settled in to rest anticipating the next day's travel.

"_Its supposed to be a magic kiss!" Yue Fei begged, her voice tremulous against the backdrop of his closed eyelids and the smothering cold as blood drenched his side. "Come on, magic! It worked before!" Her little lips fell like butterfly wings against his, pressing a chaste, pleading kiss full of salty tears and wild hope._

_The pain stopped and heat exploded in his core. His head buzzed with the euphoria of a powerful cure spell that purged his lungs of the threatening fluids and stitched his side back together. For half a second he believed Yue Fei's kisses were magic too until he looked up and saw Sephiroth standing over both of them. The materia in one of his shoulder guards stopped glowing as he stared at the spectacle with a mixture of amusement and curiosity._

"_Are you going to execute her?"_

His own question woke Reno abruptly from the journey through the ruined city with Yue Fei's hand in his. He licked his dry lips and sat up, sweat beading his forehead and trickling down his ribs. His fingers ghosted over the scar left from the impaling timber.

"I can think of a much better way to use her," he mumbled the words, not sure if they stuck on his tongue because they reminded him of Lyn or because there was a little girl out there that thought he was her friend.

Rude was still asleep a few feet away. Reno snagged the materia Sephiroth had given him and stalked out onto the veranda, rolling it between both hands meditatively. He kept his footsteps soft as he traced the sickle smile of the moon with weary eyes.

He completed two restless circuits around the enclosed courtyard before one of the shoji slid open and Mullaney appeared ahead of him. She was fully outfitted in her jumpsuit with a tool belt slung across her hips like a Cosomo Western cowboy. Reno tried not to consider what terrible experiments might lurk behind her porcelain face when he realized she wasn't even aware of his presence. Her eyes were focused out in the center of the courtyard as she knotted her fingers together halfway to a prayer.

"What are you doing?" he drew the Materia behind him and tried to look imposing. Mullaney jumped, pivoting towards him halfway into a defensive crouch. As she recognized him her jaw clenched with narrow eyed irritation.

"Good. I need a lab monkey," she snatched his wrist with surprising dexterity. Dragging him along into the dark interior she simply kept pulling when he set his stocking feet against her. The smooth wooden floors allowed him to slide soundlessly behind her. She dumped him into the kitchens where she'd set up her work across numerous surfaces.

"We've hardly been here four hours and you've overtaken the place," he gawked at the disarray of cannibalized machinery, parts strewn everywhere and all seeming to draw focus to one central device. Mullaney gave the franken-scraps an affectionate pat before digging through a pile of discarded equipment. She snapped a plug into something, flipped on a switch, and a generator chugged to life.

"I think I've finally figured it out," she told him with a ferver indicating she cared more for the pronouncement than if he listened. "Its taken me years since I first saw him but I think I've finally figured out how to make one just like him."

"So we're cloning the Captain?" Reno took a shot at comprehension. Mullaney remembered his presence. Hauling him up by the arm pits she put him on a bench.

"Okay maybe not _just_ like him but I think I've figured out the principle. I don't know where I'd find anything like him but I'm fairly sure I can duplicate the effect."

"Handsy woman!" he objected as she jerked his undershirt up and over his head. He squirmed as she cinched a band with cold goo around his chest. "Aya! Rape!" he wailed. Mullaney stepped on his foot with one of her boots. She snapped a tourniquet around his upper arm and slipped an IV into the vein rising just below his elbow joint.

"What are you – hey..." he lolled backwards. Mullaney was there to catch him somehow as she gently laid him out along the bench. "Makas?" he slurred.

"Don't mistake me for some street corner hustler. Makas and Morpha are highly unrefined. _This_ is a careful mixture of purified Mako and the very best Ether." Mullaney snapped another touniquet and IV into place. Reno couldn't even lift his feather light head, drifting completely bodiless in a calm sea of indifference.

"Funny kinda clone...business..." he managed to mumble.

"This is a terrible way to clone anything! Your cells are super saturated with substances that could crystalize at any moment given the slightest provocation!"

Reno thought maybe he should be alarmed but he felt nothing. Instead he could smell the plum scent of Mullaney's perfume. It tickled some memory in the back of his mind, trying to tease some thought into place.

"Good, good. Like this. Almost there," Mullaney encouraged through the blackness of his vacant stare. Her fingers were somewhere on his chest, settled just above the scar from a close encounter with Imperials. The smell of her kept winding through his memories, stirring up something still obscurred in the silt of his forced high. He couldn't hear the words overhead anymore but he could tell the pitch and timber of the voice. It was focused, laced with excitement. So familiar coupled with the smell.

"_Wahoo,"_ _she smiled taking the bottle out of his hands. Reno frowned up into her twinkling blue eyes. "Its as close as I can get to actual Hua Hu perfume around here." She pulled her blond curls over one shoulder and showed him how she dabbed it behind each ear. "Smell. Isn't it pretty?"_

"Cassie..." Reno moaned the name as his back arched with sudden internal agony. An old scar opened wide in his heart, fresh anguish and rage pouring through him. He sat up as the drug induced blindness dissolved into the cluttered room and Mullaney, pale as ice, knelt next to him. Her eyes were fixed on him like a falcon's.

"What did you say?" she whispered. He realized gauze and tape covered either IV mark and he was drenched in sweat.

"Plums. She always wore knock off Hua Hu perfume that smelled like plum flowers. And your voices are the same," he pushed her away before standing on shaky legs. Mullaney remained sittng on the floor with limp arms, a sudden flush in her cheeks as she stared at his back like he'd stabbed her. "What did you do to me?" he demanded leaning against a wall.

"You know Cassilia?"

"I asked what you did to me?" Reno's voice bordered on a growl as he fought to subdue the fresh wave of anger at long dead Dane.

"What happened to her? Where is she?" Mullaney ignored his question. "What do you mean 'wore' in the past tense? Doesn't she still? Hua Hu's her favorite! Why's she need a knock off brand?" Her voice was growing more shrill.

"She's dead," his voice cracked. Pain exploded across the left side of his head. His vision cut out only to return at a sharp blow of her steel toed boot to his ribs.

"You filthy Turk! What'd you do to her? Where's my cousin?"

Reno caught her leg and flipped her onto the ground. In what had become a reflexive follow through he moved to crush her wind pipe.

Rude seemed only to step besdie him with a gentle push that altered the killing trajectory into a loud thud on the floorboards beside her shoulder. Mullaney stared up at him as Reno tried to clear out the ringing in his ears and the drugs still sloshing in his brain.

"Cassie was murdered in the slums," Rude's voice was low and soft. "Reno saw to her killer."

"Why weren't you protecting her properly? What were the Turks doing?" Mullaney accused as she struggled upright. "Why didn't you help her when it mattered?"

The wind forced itself from Reno's chest. A thousand angry words boiled on the cresting waves of tempestous regret and yearning. How could Mullaney ever know what Cassie had been to him, still was in the deepest recesses of his heart?

"A man can't be everywhere toots," he smiled instead. Pulling the goo coated strap from his ribs – a heart monitor somewhere flat lined – he dropped it at her feet. Collecting the fallen Materia and his discarded shirt he put himself back together. Behind him Mullaney moved. She jerked towards her franken machine. Rude's hand snapped around the little red orb she'd attempted to fastball into the back of Reno's head. With her face flushed vibrantly Mullaney glared at him.

"Its a summon like Ifrit, the manifestation and expression of a soul crystalized in the blood of the planet, in Mako," she hissed wrenching her arm from Rude. "I'll have no further part in it. Take it, your filthy soul." The muscles in Rude's jaw stood out, his glittering brown eyes seeming to spark. Reno opened his hand and caught it as his old friend gave it a toss.

"Funny, I'm sure I sold that," he narrowed his eyes as he smiled. Materia in each hand he sauntered lightly through the halls and back to the room he shared with Rude.

His sleep was dreamless until the first hue of pre dawn brought him around better rested than he had been in two years. Rude was already mostly dressed, fussing over his tie in a familiar ritual. Reno flashed him a smile before managing to crease his freshly cleaned clothes as he threw them on. He stuffed his tie in his pocket. Rude held his hand out in disapproval.

"Quit reversing our roles," Reno grumbled as he passed the tie over. Rude buttoned Reno's shirt all the way, poppped the collar, and siutated the tie. With measured movements Rude focused on the strip of cloth as Reno slouched impatiently.

"What about that?" Rude asked with a glance over at the red orb still sitting on the unmade futon. He tightened the knot around Reno's neck. They both stared at it for a long moment, the ruby hue almost sinister. When he lifted it the Materia was light in his palm. He turned around and handed it to Rude.

"Give it to Lyn. She's got the original. Maybe she can critique Mullaney's handiwork yo."

"You're sure?"

"I already know what it'll look like," Reno shrugged.

Mullaney was slouched on one of the two bikes waiting for them outside. Shoulders hunched she stared insistently at the ground until Reno made a point of standing toe to toe with her. Rude was poised an easy stride to come between them, his weight shifting in sublte unease.

"I really hate you. You make my skin crawl," Mullaney said to his chest.

"Sweet talker."

"But you know her favorite perfume..."

Reno's quick tongue faltered there as his insides shifted. Her eyes flashed up at him balefully. She seemed to hunch over further like wings might sprout from her shoulderblades, a gargoyle expression of frustration twisting her face.

"You're in my space," she shoved him back so she could pace a circle around the bikes and Turks with animal energy. "These, they're for you." She thrust a set of watches out towards Rude with her back to Reno. "Switch the display over and it'll indicate the direction of the other watch. Good up to fifty miles theoretically. You're the field test."

"Thank you," Rude accepted them cautiously. Mullaney snatched his sun glasses and cleaned them with a carefully folded hand kerchief.

"I needed guinnea pigs. They're experimental." Her eyes flashed up to him and away. She gave him back his glasses before wringing the kerchief.

"We should go," Rude said after about ten seconds of awkward silence. Mullaney nodded stiffly. She backed a few mechanical steps away.

"Hey boy clone," she called once the engines turned over. "You loved her, right? Cassilia?"

"Her name's Cassie," Reno corrected before he could stop himself.

"So you're really all that's left of her you aweful person. Maybe by the time the war's over I'll be okay with that."

"Let me know how that feels."

"Mullaney," Rude caught her attention. "I will end you if you use Reno like this again." He held up the Materia.

"Think you have a shot?" Mullaney's smile appeared like radiant dawn.

"Aw you stud," Reno snorted. Rude glared at Mullaney over his sunglasses for emphasis. Her smile widened and color crept into her cheeks. She ran a hand back through her hair.

"I'll have perfected the technique next time," she promised.


	34. A Turk First

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 34: A Turk First

Something was drastically wrong. Sa Gong was burning against the backdrop of a stormy sea as it hadn't been since Reno and Rude had first arrived two years ago. Black smoke further darkened angry clouds while cries and explosions filled the air with cacaphonous turmoil. Ifrit suddenly reared, swelling in size over the city with his arched horns immersed in a fiery mane. Gouts of fire drew new red lines through the city.

Rude didn't need to follow to know exactly where Reno was going when they bent over their bikes. His heart rate spiked as they pushed the Asena bikes to their limits, engines screaming towards the city where they leaned and twisted through the catacomb streets. Burning buildings came down around them and knots of fighting soldiers threw themselves out of the way. Terrified city dwellers shrieked with their haphazard bundles of gathered belongings clutched to their chests as they sought escape.

Ifrit bellowed overhead rattling the very earth. More explosions sent shockwaves through the city almost tipping Rude's bike. He shifted his weight expertly to compensate as he and Reno split around debris in two different short cuts to reach the same goal. Rude beat his old partner to the burning gardens and half collapsed building.

"Kaede!" he swung off the bike and ran across the courtyard towards her blown out establishment. Vaulting into whatever was left of a smoldering room he saw the charred bodies covered in blackened silk. His eyes shot across them, most unintelligeable. Jerking his sunglasses off he proceeded into the next room searching for any sign of her.

"Kaede are you here?" he called again. "Answer me dammit!" Throwing his shoulder into beams blocking the way to her entertaining hall he broke through. The air inside was stale. A sickening tang of copper coated his tongue as he fell to his knees.

Slaughter was not something that had stopped bothering Rude, he'd just gotten good at compartmentalizing. Usually it took a few days of processing before it came back during a dream to wake him in a cold sweat. This drew a hollow up through his core and emptied all air from his lungs.

Bodies were everywhere. It wasn't the way their blood and innards were scattered across the room, stray appendages flung haphazard, it was the fact that he knew almost every face. Their death fogged eyes were open, many of the loyal retainers to the five family heads. He began recognizing the family heirs, the elders, and a host of Kaede's girls in their best kimonos with blood congealing on their hair ornaments.

And there was Kaede crumpled on the ground next to the Nakamura family head, his snowy hair crusted with red. Her little hand was still curled around a knife as her guts spilled over onto the ground.

"Kaede," Rude's voice broke. He crawled to her desperately. Removing his jacket he wrapped it around her middle to contain the mess before he pulled her up into his chest.

"Nnng!" she cringed.

"Kaede!"

"Daru?" her eyes rolled open.

"H-hold still! I'll find something, just, just..."

"Daru..." her smile sagged to expose the blood coated teeth. "I missed you."

"Kaede," he pressed his forehead against hers as his vision blurred. "I will make this okay," he begged as his mind scrambled to find something that might help her.

"Here," she struggled feebly. The butt of her knife hit his arm lightly. "I saw...I know..."

"No, no," he shook his head swallowing his panic. He covered the bloody hand with her offered knife and pushed them both back towards her side. Pain rippled through her features, pinching her eyebrows.

A boom echoed nearby as the precarious wooden establishment groaned. Rude shifted to gather her but the moment he attempted to move her she unleashed such a pitiful cry of agony he froze. His heart thundered in his chest as some rational piece tried to explain she had no options. Even if he found someone with a high level cure spell there was only so much it could do. All the potions, Materia, and surgery he could find in a perfect world wouldn't be a guarantee. She was so close to death and so badly torn apart.

"Please no Kaede. I just have to find someone," Rude coaxed helplessly.

"Daru," she chided sweetly. His eyes locked with hers and he watched one of his tears land on her cheek. "Such pretty eyes." Her face crumpled again as her muscles spasomed. The weight of his only option fell over him with chilling resignation.

"Kaede..." Reno dropped to his knees on her other side. He looked at the blood soaking through Rude's jacket around her middle and the expression on his friend's face. Reno's fingers curled almost painfully on Rude's shoulder as they hunched over her together.

"Neko-chan," she breathed his name. "Please." Her voice strained. Reno's jaw tightened as she lifted the knife, her knuckles thumping into his chest. The red head moved to accept when Rude intercepted it. "It was supposed to be a wedding," Kaede looked at both of them over her. "Karasuma...has slaughtered what could not be unified into one great house." A mutual hommicidal intent arched between Reno and Rude. "Please now...before my dignity is all gone..."

Reno's fingers curled around one of her hands and he kissed her bloody knuckles. His other hand stayed on Rude's shoulder as the milano shifted Kaede's weight so he could poise the knife just below her arm pit where the ribs wouldn't block a direct line to her heart. With a quick jerk it was done and Kaede sighed out her final breath.

It was silent as the pair remained motionless. Only distant fighting rattled through the establishment as they sat frozen in Kaede's death. Outside the world was in chaos but here as Rude sat amazed at the total absence of his emotions things were perfectly calm. Kaede looked peaceful with her head nestled against his shoulder and Reno pressing her hand to his lips.

As one they settled her respectfully on the floor and got to their feet. Reno handed Rude his sunglasses. They snapped open with a flick of his wrist. Together they moved out of the broken building back into the courtyard where they'd parked their bikes. Reno slouched with his hands in his pockets as Rude lifted one hand wrapped in Sun Sect prayer beads.

Fire plumed into the air a good thirty feet. From where they stood it burned hot enough to singe their clothing. Reno smiled, his eyes glittering like poison. Rude handed him a succor and the red Summon Materia.

"I guess we do have to clear out the Empress before we can deal with Karasuma," Reno nodded tearing the wrapper away from a pineapple flavored candy. He set it between his teeth before tossing the little red Materia. It took on a cruel glow as Rude calmly adjusted the cuffs on his blood soaked shirt.

"Lyn will be near Ifrit," he observed almost casually.

"Think Verdot let her participate?"

"Even he makes exceptions," Rude nodded as Reno's smile stretched wider. They turned the engines of their bikes over and cut a direct line to Ifrit raging in the heart of the city close to HQ.

Rude shifted ahead as they drew near. His Sun Sect fire would have no effect on Ifrit, the elemental embodiment. Reno with his summon would take a back seat long enough to utilize the strange new Materia while Rude fully intended to draw all attention to himself. The thought that they meant to go head to head with such a monster didn't give either one pause.

All it took to gain Ifrit's attention once he'd filled the horizon and Rude was close enough was abandoning his bike to shatter against its leg. Rolling to one side he heard the meeting of metal and sinew coupled with Ifrit's resonating shriek. Rude was on his feet and back tracking as Ifrit zeroed in on his presence. In a quick defense he deflected Ifrit's retaliatory fire with the casting of his own blaze.

The next moments would live forever in Rude's memory. He watched the flames suddenly snuffed out as a gale force rose behind him. There wasn't time to turn around and any desire to look back was overwhelmed when his eyes focused in disbelief on the translucent creature that had suddenly taken hold of Ifrit. Claws curled in over Ifrit's shoulders and thighs rending great tears deep in the beast's flesh. Lodged on its back was something vaguely feline with serrated teeth and a shimmering mane of seemingly no more substance than moon beams. Bands like shadows ran down its back as Ifrit thrashed and turned them around.

The creature's body dissolved and seemed to pull Ifrit apart in an explosion that hurtled Rude backwards into the remains of a building where he remained breathless. He'd been a good twenty feet from the clashing titans and the arm and leg he'd used to shield himself were burned. He took a moment to consider what had just happened.

"Oy!" Reno's voice came overhead, crashing through the flabbergasted silence of the city. He slid down the rubble next to Rude. "One time use yo," he opened his hand to expose the red dust glittering in his palm.

"You broke my sunglasses," Rude sighed as they fell away to expose his face. Reno clapped dust from his palms so he could lift the two halves.

"Wanna go cut the Empress' throat?" he asked.

"She's in the way," Rude nodded as they hauled themselves out of the rubble. He only gave the burns a cursory glance. There was nothing to be done about them now. "That way," Rude indicated with a nod where he could see the flash of a whirling blade arc through the sky. They heard the contact of metal as weapons met.

Arriving to join the fray they discovered Lyn with a mountain of corpses piled around her as she cut through a wave of Imperials. Not far back was Tseng and a handfull of other Turks with a few SOLDIERs thrown into the mix. They joined in the fighting without argument, flanking Lyn's sides well outside the range of her swinging broad sword.

A high whistle sounded and the Imperials still left alive suddenly broke, retreating through the devastated streets. Lyn stood poised like a battle goddess watching them go, gore spattering her uniform as she settled the sword on one shoulder.

"Run dogs," she curled her lip. "Get out of Sa Gong."

"Where's Xíhē?" Reno asked as he put away the night stick. Lyn's eyes flicked to them and darkened with frustration.

"She was standing right here controlling Ifrit when that _thing_ came out of nowhere and tore it up. I almost had her," she growled. "What the hell was that?"

"What? Am I an oracle?" Reno played stupid as her tone promised hurt to the thing that had once again hampered her success.

"You just have impeccable timing," she grumbled fishing smokes out of her devastated coat. She offered one to Reno. He accepted it serenely, spitting the chewed up stick of his succor onto the blood muddied ground. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she lit the tip for him. "What?"

"There's been a change of hands amidst our old friends the Yakuza," Reno answered taking a long pull. Smoke shot out of his nostrils as Lyn took both of them in again. "Karasuma Masao executed the five family heads in a coup."

"And? Is he ours still?" she sank the tip of her sword into a nearby body so she could cross her arms. Reno's jaw tightened. "Oh I see. You have some personal stake in this Red." Her eyes flicked to Rude.

"Mind the wounded! Darcy! You take two men and get back to HQ to assess damages there!" Tseng ordered behind them. Lyn clamped her bloody hands on Reno and Rude's shoulders, chewing on the butt of her cigarette as she turned them towards their superior.

"See that?" she nodded at the grim scene before them. "That's what we care about. I don't care what the Yakuza do to each other as long as they work with us. Karasuma consolidating them could work in our favor or he makes himself a single head to execute one beast if he decides he doesn't like us. I don't care. And you know what? They don't care about us either. The enemy of my enemy and all." Her arms relaxed enough so she could drape them around their shoulders, practically hanging from their superior height. Rude couldn't help the way his muscles contracted as something icy settled in his lower belly. He wanted Karasuma to pay for Kaede's needless death.

"You're a Turk, not a person boys," Lyn gave them sharp looks.

"Reno! Rude!" Tseng called as he hoisted a wounded SOLDIER onto his shoulders. His immaculate hair was in disarray, suit filthy. "We need help getting these men back to whatever's left of HQ."

Rude stepped out of Lyn's hold as Reno continued to stand thoughtfully poised. Thoughts were turning over in his mind, a host of different ways to erradicate the Yakuza no doubt. Lyn's shark smile twisted over her face.

"When they betray us after the war I'll know who to send. I guarantee it'll be sooner rather than later. Everyone hates the Shin-Ra," she promised.

"Thanks for the smokes," Reno flashed her Junon Jezebels before pocketing them. She laughed. Rude stalked towards Tseng and helped Tyco up, supporting most of his weight. With his gaunt features and hooked nose pale from blood loss Tyco looked like a vulture more than ever.

"Once we've assessed damages back at HQ you two should meet with our allies," Tseng grunted beneath the weight of his burden as they began back towards the converted Inn. Rude's chest muscles tightened.

"Karasuma staged a coup," Reno answered in his usual fashion of uncanny cheerfulness in such situations. Tseng's head whipped around in uncharacteristic surprise. "I have no idea if we're still allies."

"Then you two need to go and find out, reopen communication," Tseng recovered. "It doesn't matter who's in charge. We – "

"Organizations," Reno held up a hand to silence him, nodding. "I remember." Tseng seemed taken aback by the cold glitter in Reno's eyes. He looked to Rude and seemed further disturbed. His poise returned however as he resumed command over their group and the men that seemed to trickle towards their caravan, emerging from the ruins.

This made both the northern and southern capitols of Wutai destroyed Rude reflected on the long march. Tyco was breathing heavy, sweat falling down his pale face. He groaned and stumbled. Rude bent just enough to hoist his comrade over his shoulders.

Turk HQ was still half standing but the SOLDIERs' base had been utterly destroyed. Verdot handled the influx of wounded, working with the medical staff and lending his wounded but still mobile Turks to the head physician to run errands and provide extra hands. All uninjured Turks were out in search of contacts to figure out what exactly had happened. Grim's men were busy handling search and rescue. Both men ran things from a shared table where Hammond was frantically tyring to juxtapose electronics together and keep them working so contact could be made with Midgar and Sephiroth.

"Verdot! Half a minute!" Lyn called as she shouldered through the rush of men in and out of HQ with assorted reports. Verdot silenced Miguel by raising his organic hand. He motioned them over to a side room. Reno and Rude followed.

"Exactly thirty seconds," Verdot almost growled, his frustrations focusing on them. Lyn waved towards the youngest Turk members.

"Karasuma Masao killed all the Yakuza family heads during the uprising and assumed power," Reno assumed his role as spokesman for their endeavors. "We'll be along to test the waters as soon as you like, yo. Also Mullaney Mjolner developed some kind of experimental summon akin to Ifrit."

"You little..." Lyn grumbled reaching into her pocket. Reno offered her one of her own cigarettes invoking another growl.

"One time use. It crumbled into dust or I'd hand it over. We also managed to plant something of a tracking device on Yue Fei during the seige in the capitol," Reno added, reaching into his pocket and extracting the saffron Materia he'd been worrying the last few days. "This is the twin Materia to the one Yue Fei possesses. It can track the location of its mate."

"Does it work in reverse?" Verdot asked.

"If you know how to use it," Reno shrugged as Lyn took the orb away to hold it against the light.

"Yue Fei will lead to Xíhē eventually," Lyn remarked, looking expectantly at Verdot. He just gave her a nod and she pocketed the precious trinket.

"I'll look into matters with the president's niece about this Summon prototype once this debacle is settled. In the mean time I need the pair of you to negotiate with the Yakuza."

"Tseng already gave the orders," Reno shrugged. "We'll be on our way then."

"If you fail I'll have you shipped back to Midgar to face charges of treason." Verdot's voice was like shifting ice. Rude remained absolutely still as Reno grinned.

"We're Turks yo. We live for this shit."

Verdot gave it three long seconds before he looked to Lyn.

"You. Track down whoever set this up. Its an inside job I'm sure, whether or not this Bai Yan character is involved," he instructed.

"Free hand?"

"Tread as light as you can. Tempers are running hot. You two consider a full report of your efforts in the capitol and the yakuza along with whatever information you have about the president's niece when you return."

"Sure thing boss," Reno nodded as Verdot abruptly left the room. Lyn shot them both a significant look before she followed. "So, how do you feel about some tea?"

"Now?"

"I hear there's a great shop along the Hibiki."

"_Now_?" Rude repeated.

"I'll kill them all if I can't exact some kind of vegenace," Reno shrugged. "This is a good gig. I'd hate to be labeled a traitor yo."

Rude turned this over in his mind. There was no telling if the little serving girl Sumire was still alive or if the tea shop even stood. All the same things were so unbalanced and out of his control. Reclaiming the lost hair pin was the smallest thing and yet somehow as he thought about it delivering that justice seemed necessary. It would make the wait to avenge Kaede bearable.

"Its not particularly out of the way to the Yatsuba estate," he agreed. "I need a new suit."

"I'll meetcha out front Hubby," Reno shrugged. Rude took the pack of cigarettes from him on the way by. No sense in him smoking them all at once.


	35. In Search of a Hair Pin

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 35: In Search of a Hair Pin

Steam choked the streets as dusk settled with heavy storm clouds. The rain hissed against lingering embers and settled the Imperial assault. Shin-Ra troops were everywhere, gathering up the dead, executing any abandoned Imperials, and herding Wutai refugees to camps for treatment and questioning. Reno and Rude moved much more slowly through the city often waiting for a herd of frightened non combatants to shuffle across the muddy road at the behest of Mako-eyed shepherds.

Reno's hair was plastered down against his scalp as he sat patiently at such a crossing with his Asena motorcycle rumbling. The SOLDIERs ahead were specters in the artificial fog, their glowing eyes swiveling towards the waiting Turks every so often as citizens whispered about demons. Reno didn't particularly mind. He was in a monster sort of mood.

As they cut through the streets again he felt like something in him had come unhinged. Prowling the roads in such poor visibility satisfied him, the sound of retreating steps and startled cries adding to a new sense of himself as a predator. This new sensation seemed to settle into the grains of his muscles and the old scars in his heart.

They stopped at the tea shop where a handful of patrons sat with hollow eyes around pots of tea. A haggard serving girl went pale at the sight of their bikes sliding to a stop before falling silent. Reno dismounted and frisked his pockets. Rude next to him offered one cigarette from the pack he held hostage. He was in no mood for levity as they made their way beneath the straw overhang sheltering the would be diners. Striking a match on the old table where three city men, perhaps officials once, sat rigidly at attention Reno took his time lighting his smoke as his eyes slithered across each patron. Rude was immobile next to him, his exotic dark skin and forbidding expression seeming to loom over the now uncomfortable table.

"Who owns this place?" Reno asked in carefully articulated Wutain. Silence was his only answer. Reno blew smoke out through his nose before striding to the now frightened serving girl. The porcelain lid of her tea pot rattled on its tray. Reno took one of the sloshing cups. "Serving girl. Where is your boss?" He downed the cup like a shot of sake. Her eyes slid to Rude and back to Reno.

"H-he's hurt. B-but he's here!" she added as if afraid he would snarl and start tearing apart the shop like a common thug. "In back!"

"Nobody leaves serving girl. A round of tea on me, neh?" he flashed her a frigid smile. She looked again at Rude before nodding rapidly. Reno sauntered inside leaving Rude standing watch like a golem.

The tea shop was filled with tins and crates packed with fragrant, dried leaves. There were displays of tea pots and delicate cups. Reno passed all this and slipped into the back leaving a trail of curling smoke in his wake. He didn't bother taking off his shoes. Instead they made crisp thumps on the polished wood floors. Sliding open the farthest shoji he spotted the round man swathed in bandages huddled amidst the blankets of his futon. His jowls trembled as his eyes bugged out in attempted stoicism.

"I am looking for a hair pin," Reno informed him squatting before the futon. He blew smoke into the man's face. "It was a flower made out of iron."

"I am a tea shop!" he said drawing himself up. "If you want trinkets you'll have to go to a trinket shop! Now take your muddy shoes out of my house!" Reno stared at him a minute watching him tremble more violently, his cheeks rippling.

The ember of his cigarette hissed in the very middle of the man's sweaty forehead. He screamed throwing himself backwards. Reno checked to be sure the cherry was still there, taking another pull to keep the flame from extinguishing.

"Men here used that hair pin to brand a little girl on the forehead. I want that hair pin. Do you remember Tea Shop-san?"

"You can't do this! I'll tell your superiors! You can't treat me this way!" he howled. Reno stood up so he could plant his foot in the man's pudgy chest. Using gravity and driving his weight into it he pinned the owner. Leaning on the pinning leg he ashed over the man.

"Girls here are particular about their foreheads. It was a very cruel thing they did. And they kept her hair pin after that. I want it back."

"I don't have it!" he wriggled trying to dislodge Reno's foot. The cigarette cherry found its way to a fold of neck fat. With a womanly shriek the owner clutched the new burn and stopped struggling.

"Bai Yan has it!" he shrilled. "Those men were his agents!"

"Bai Yan you say? Where can I find him?"

"I don't know," he moaned as tears welled in his eyes. Reno extended the tip of his cigarette. "I swear! I swear I don't know! Please! They met here sometimes!"

"Who were they?"

"I didn't know all of them. Day laborers mostly, Kaza the porter, a farmer named Ushi, people like that! Their leaders, I didn't know their names but there was a man like a bear and his wife like a spider!" He squirmed as Reno pushed the cigarette closer again. "I swear! I swear! Please, it's all I know." Dissolving into quivering sobs Reno was satisfied the man's information was spent.

"Fair enough," he answered taking a last pull. Reaching forward again he marked out a flower on the shop keeper's forehead listening to him scream. "This will remind you next time Tea Shop-san to protect little girls from unkind things."

He put his cigarette out finally in a glass of tea before turning away. Everyone outside was huddled nervously together as Rude stood in the exact same place.

"Did you find it?" he asked in Midgarean.

"Apparently a bear and a spider took it to Bai Yan," Reno answered in Wutain. Breaths were sucked in. He approached the waitress and took both her arms as she tried to back away. "Do you know anything about that?" he purred in a tone of venom and sugar. Her knees gave out so he eased her into a chair. "Anything about a little girl they burned with a hair pin? I want the pin back."

"N-no, I don't ah!" she squeaked when the flat of a knife pressed along under her jaw as he lifted her chin. Rude just took a step towards the squawk of the other men and they were sufficiently cowed.

"Nothing at all?" Reno pressed softly, a breath away from her face. Her eyes were wide and dark staring up at him.

"The Bear and the Spider..." she whispered. "They're the leaders. But the one that branded the girl was someone different. H-he had tattoos..."

"What kind of tattoos?"

"A dragon with the red face of a demon," she whispered. "I s-saw him once at the bath house. He took the girl's hair pin with him after he burned her."

"Old? Young? His name?"

"Not young and not old. I don't know his name."

"What about a bird with eyes in its tail. Have you ever seen that tattoo?"

"No," she trembled. "But the dragon...only yakuza have tattoos like him."

"I know serving girl," Reno let her go. He smiled and slid the knife back into its little sheathe on his belt. "Who is Shou Yang?"

"She was Emperor Godo's niece, daughter to the former Emperor." The serving girl bit her lip as she looked nervously again at Rude. "She was lost in a winter storm once and took shelter beneath a plum tree. It kept her safe and when the Imperial guard found her the winter flowers had left the mark of a plum blossom on her forehead."

"What happened to her?"

"Emperor Godo had her publically executed once his brother was dead. H-he made Bai Yan do it."

"Where was the bath house you saw the tattooed man?"

"Four blocks that way," she pointed.

"Thank you tea shop girl." He flipped money into her lap before turning away. Wordlessly they returned to their bikes and resumed their prowl through the broken pathways of Sa Gong.

"Why would a yakuza be working for Bai Yan yo?" Reno asked as they sat idling on another refugee crossing.

"For the sake of a coup," Rude speculated flatly. Reno grit his teeth.

"Wouldn't Sumire have recognized him at the gathering?"

"It was the five great families at that meeting. There were smaller groups not present," Rude pointed out. Reno wracked his brain. They'd had few dealings with the littler families due to the nature of their hierarchy. There was no need to deal with groups already obedient to the Five. As such his knowledge of them was vague at best, reduced to only a handful of family heads. He had no knowledge of their heirs, lieutenants, or anyone else in their lower ranks.

"Well this'll be like square one," he sighed. "We don't even have the time to find leverage."

"Bai Yan is tied to them somehow," Rude crossed his arms as rain water dripped drown his eyebrows. "If we find that we can decide whether we bring the full weight of the Shin-Ra on them or use it to our own advantage."

"What other advantage is there?"

"The Shin-Ra need the yakuza. That's why we play along with all their bluster," Rude explained in almost a growl. "But when the war's over the Shin-Ra will be waiting for a chance to crush them. If we give them the excuse,"

"Then we have a free hand in its execution," Reno smile cracked his face in two. The corner's of Rude's mouth lifted as he tapped his temple with one finger.

The remainder of the trip was silent until the gates of the Yatsuba estate loomed before them in starkly contrasting serenity. As if to greet them the gates were open and it was none other than Yatsuba Hiromi standing in a spectacular red kimono embroidered with vibrantly patterned purple, white and blue cranes waiting beneath an umbrella.

"Should I congratulate you or offer condolences OJ?" Reno asked as he stood just outside the protective red ribs of her parasol.

"Both maybe," she answered as the veil of her lashes drew back and exposed the grief and uncertainty in her dark eyes. Her hand lifted and pressed into his soaked jacket as if to assure herself he was there. Less than a month ago her touch would have filled him with an assortment of thoughts. Now the only one that surfaced was the realization that she'd had some part in all this. The Hiromi he knew would have died protecting her father. Perhaps he'd never known her.

Hiromi looked up into his face as he took her hand and pressed a kiss into the knuckles. Her skin was cold like she'd been waiting all day. It would have been touching if he wasn't wondering what her part in Kaede's death had been.

"Congratulations on the wedding," Reno purred as he warmed her cold fingers with his breath. He pressed another kiss into her pale skin. "Sorry about the dead yo." Her eyes fell away from him. She studied a puddle close to Rude's foot.

"My h – " she faltered. "My husband's waiting inside. He would have greeted you himself but I insisted on that pleasure."

"Shall we?" Reno crooked his arm. Hiromi hesitated.

"I'm married now," she took a step back drawing herself up. "What will they say?"

_'You should have chosen the Turks,'_ Reno thought and smiled, swallowing the reply. He and Rude fell in behind her towards the house. A simple look between them conveyed they'd both arrived at the same conclusion: Hiromi was in on the transition of power.

Stepping out of the rain servants materialized and practically stripped them naked, offering clean, dry attire in dark blue in a Wutain honor of their Turk Blues. Hiromi had disappeared further into the house so a servant brought them instead into the hall where Reno had first encountered the Yatsuba head and then been pitted against the bear man...

Seated in the former head's place was Karasuma Masao. To his right was Tennouji, drinking sake and flirting with a pretty serving girl. When he realized the Turks had entered Tennouji sent Reno an I-told-you-so smile before dismissing his girl. A host of other men, mostly junior yakuza from an assortment of families the majority of which Reno didn't recognize, were also gathered.

"So then, the Turks arrive at last," Karasuma announced studying Reno.

"Sorry about that yo. The Empress was here to visit or we would have dropped by to pay our respects sooner," Reno shrugged.

"It would seem you were successful in your work. Have a seat then. You must be tired," he gestured magnanimously at the floor between them. Reno thumped down as Rude sank more gracefully. Girls appeared at their sides and offered drink. Rude lifted a hand to decline. "You're not thirsty?" Karasuma's eyes narrowed.

"It has been a long road. I worry that good drink will make me inattentive," Rude answered.

"Take a toast with us Turk. To the new family and in honor of my beautiful wife Hiromi," Karasuma instructed. Rude dipped his head obediently. Reno ran his tongue along the back of his teeth as he willed the continued existence of his pleasant smile. A resounding cheer went around the room as they drank and before Rude could object the glass was refilled. It was three rounds before Karasmua raised his hand for silence.

"I hope you've come in a mood for some business because there is much to attend," Karasuma announced. "_This_ family will not be accepting the pitiful scraps offered by the Shin-Ra. I am interested in a bit of fairness for all our trouble assisting your foreigners." He almost sneered. Reno wondered what made him quite so cocky. Perhaps he judged the Turks and the Shin-Ra as weak after all the allowances they'd made to the prior regime. Perhaps he was stupid enough to think the Shin-Ra not fully capable of cutting his throat the very second they no longer needed him.

"All right. We will hear you out," Reno shrugged bracing on his knees and attentively fixing his eyes directly on Karasuma.

He remained silent through the succinct and absurd terms of Karasuma's cooperation. The amount of firepower and the rights he wanted all at Shin-Ra expense were a mockery compared to their current usefulness. He ran his eyes through the room and saw the youth of Karasuma's followers as compared to the crusty, aged faces he was accustomed to harassing and being harassed by in turn. Many of them he recognized by sight if not by names, most effective and well established, but Reno knew it wasn't just the fact that the old crew hadn't died that kept them from promotions. Even into their thirties and early forties most of these men had been too impulsive and short sighted to manage the delicate balance of legality and covert law breaking that structured their existence. If only Tseng and his gilded tongue were here to promise them a pleasant sounding nothing.

"Is that all?" Rude asked before Reno could decide on his approach. The red head glanced at his old friend and then slouched back onto his hands to watch the fireworks. Karasuma looked at Rude curiously. "I think you do not know your own situation Karasuma. In the first place you have killed many very loyal Shin-Ra allies and replaced them with men here not ready to lead. Men that _I_ know are not yet ready to lead. In addition you have within your ranks the eyes of Bai Yan so that any trust we place in you will surely bleed through him to the Empress. Finally you ask for so much and offer so little. Where were your men when the city was attacked? It was we Shin-Ra that held this place while you lounged here after your slaughter to drink to your success."

Rude's tone remained perfectly neutral as he delivered his assessment of Karasuma's merits. Reno saw his partner's temper only in the way his hands were clenched behind his back and the volume of words coupled with their seeming indifferent tone. He lifted his hand as Karasuma opened his mouth to speak and narrowed his eyes venomously.

"Before we can offer any kind of agreement we need some proof of your loyalty. The Shin-Ra have remained constant in our promises to the old generation. Now we need to know of your effectiveness before we can even offer their benefits, never mind considering these new demands."

"Perhaps you don't understand how vital our assistance has been," Karasuma almost spat. "If that's the case I can send your heads back to your superiors." Swords hissed free. Reno just made himself more comfortable.

"And perhaps you do not understand that you have destroyed one of the best established networks in our arsenal and that we are _not_ pleased," Rude rebutted. "All I am asking is some token demonstrating your capabilities so that I may explain to my superiors why I am willing to grant you so many favors. It is the very thing the Yakuza asked of us and I find it a most fair practice. You know what we can do for you. Show me what you can do for us."

Reno idly lit a cigarette as he wondered if they'd have to fight their way out and then escape from the Shin-Ra for treason. He blew smoke rings and let his eyes wander over the gathered men all waiting on Karasuma's command. Tennouji looked disturbed and in one corner Hiromi's face was pale as she watched from a passage.

"And what token is this?" Karasuma almost snarled.

"I am looking for a hair pin," Rude replied simply as gasps of incredulous disbelief filled the room. Karasuma's face flushed red in anger. "It is in the possession of a yakuza bearing the tattoo of a dragon with a demon's face. The pin is made of iron in the shape of a plum blossom. Find it, bring both it and the yakuza to me and we will negotiate."

"I am not an errand boy."

"I hope not. An errand boy could not complete this task," Rude answered evenly. "We will stay here a few days. I hope in that time you can find it. Are there rooms prepared or should we wait on the veranda?"

"There are rooms," Hiromi quickly stepped into the chamber before her new husband could explode. "I will make sure they are comfortable while you decide," she bowed and motioned them desperately to follow. Reno swung up and they sauntered after her quick, nervous steps.

"Well played," he shot Rude a grin.


	36. Tattoos

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 36: Tattoos

Rude's heartbeat had finally stopped hammering against his chest sometime late in the night. His pulse still throbbed against the burns on his arm but at least the all consuming temper that had overcome him in Karasuma's presence had abated. Reno was asleep for his shift in the usual tangle of blankets and splayed limbs, his breathing soft and even punctured by the occasional incoherent murmur.

It was a risky gamble defying Karasuma rather than attempting to mollify him with half promises. Negotiations were even less his strong suit than Reno's and he wondered if this was some lesson Verdot had been waiting to teach them. Either way he and Reno would have to watch their backs every minute they lingered.

Memories began stirring so Rude got up to pace quietly around the room. He didn't dare leave sleeping Reno unattended or he would have gone out to enjoy the sound of rain on the veranda's overhang. Instead he circled with silent steps, flexing the fingers of his burned arm idly. This would make writing his next letter to Beatrice difficult. Except now he'd have to find someone else to tell him Wutai myths and fairytales. Kaede was dead…

Damp air swept across his face as he opened the shoji. Rubbing the back of his neck he searched the dark for anything out of place. His eyes adjusted quickly to the shapes of the garden, the pale paper of other shoji, and the faint glimmer of light from one or two lit candles in other closed rooms. The Yatsuba estate was familiar enough but in the last day it had become repulsive. He was about to close the shoji again when Reno shuffled out grinding sleep from his eyes before folding into a seat on the veranda.

"Brain won't turn off yo," he grumbled as he searched Rude's jacket for the last Junon Jezebel cigarette. Rude sat next to him and they watched the rain. Between the smoking ember and the familiar light of Reno's green eyes studying the dark next to him Rude felt calmness descend. They would make it through this like they made it through everything else; flying by the seat of their pants. His heart might ache but Rude would survive to fight another day, accept another mission, and send another letter back to the Plates for Beatrice.

Dawn found them still sitting outside after outlasting both the dark and the rain. Reno's hair glistened with dew as he remained unusually still. His thoughts were busy deciding how to respond to Karasuma now and utterly destroy him later, an occupation that had engaged Rude as well. He set aside this work as he spotted Hiromi approaching them in another elaborate kimono.

"Hey OJ, is Hokuto still with the family?" Reno inquired without looking up. She tilted her head to one side as her brows knit.

"He is," she nodded. "I can take you to him later. For now your presence is required in the great hall. I believe Karasuma-sama has found the man for which you search."

"We will be right there toots," Reno nodded rolling his shoulders. "I am going to change unless you would like to dress me," he added when she hesitated. She lowered her head and bit her lip, eyes dark with some thought that brought color to her cheeks, and then departed.

"Who's Hokuto?" Rude asked following him back into the room.

"I really want a bath yo," Reno sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "You remember I told you about running into the Yatsuba family and them testin' me?" Rude nodded. "Hokuto is the guy they made me fight. I thought he was a bear man. I hadn't thought about him in years and then tea shop girl said what she said and here we were at the Yatsubas," he trailed off with a shrug.

They dressed quickly and Rude doggedly fixed Reno's tie, never mind in about two minutes he would pull it looser and unfasten the buttons at the top of his shirt. Habit was the only thing that kept his hands from shaking and his temper from snapping. As they approached the great hall he passed his old friend a succor before he could search himself for a cigarette he didn't have any more.

"Thanks hubby," Reno shot him a grin before they entered the main hall.

Karasuma worked fast. Roughed up but still functioning sat a man somewhere between thirty and forty with his hands bound behind him and his jacket ripped away to expose the coils of a serpentine dragon. The creased, red, grinning face of a demon took the place of the dragon's head. Karasuma stood next to his bound captive with an iron hair pin clenched in one hand. He looked none too pleased.

"I have asked Li He why you might be interested in this pin. He replied that he had taken it from an urchin girl. Explain to me why this good man is suffering for such a minor infraction. What interest does the Shin-Ra have in him?"

"That is our concern," Rude answered. "But finding him is the token we required and now I will go and make sure your demands of Materia and machinery are met and talk to my superiors about your representation and share in company's dealings."

Karasuma looked distrustful. His eyes shot between the hair pin and Li He. At length he extended the pin and cracked the back of Li He's head to send him into unconsciousness. Offering the ornament Rude plucked it from his palm and turned it over. The petals on the plum flower matched his memories of the burn on Sumire's forehead. A back corner of his mind wondered if she was alive or dead.

"Thank you," Rude nodded, pocketing the trinket and hauling Li He over his shoulders. "We will go now."

"Return soon," Karasuma growled.

"Did we need to stop?" Rude asked softly of Reno as they moved swiftly towards their bikes.

"Oh he'll still be here," Reno smiled cheerfully. "Let's take him back to HQ and see what we can find out. Lyn will owe us yo," he rubbed his hands together. Rude almost smiled at the sinister delight in his companion's eyes.

It was uncomfortable riding back and worrying about his extra charge but Rude managed to work the disheveled streets behind Reno, mud and gathered rain water flung everywhere in their passage. He could feel the line of dirt that had gathered and stuck all the way up the back of his jacket by the time their crumbling HQ appeared, swarmed with enlisted soldiers hurrying to rebuild it.

"Reno! Rude!" Hammond called. He appeared from an upstairs window as they parked.

"Did ya miss me?" Reno called back waving. Rude slung the still unconscious yakuza over his shoulders.

"I've got a message for you! Miss Mjolner wants you to contact her immediately!"

"Lyn's calling me!" Reno shuddered and rubbed his arms. "Bye!"

"Reno!" Hammond protested as the red head shot into the building amidst a swirl of activity.

"We'll be up," Rude assured flustered Hammond. The radio attendant gave him a relieved nod before ducking back inside.

Reno was talking to a cluster of other Turks including Tyco, bandaged and pale. Money changed hands and Reno almost kissed the invalid as Tyco handed over a carton of Sol Sunbursts. Tucking the precious cargo under his arm – Rude would sequester at least half away so Reno couldn't smoke them all in the next week – Reno waved Rude after him.

Lyn was in a back room whistling as she hosed the concrete floors down around a bloody chair. She'd laid the concrete herself when they'd first claimed the building and was even handy enough to install the drain system that took the sullied water out into a gutter. Rude felt his insides still as he entered her interrogation room, tamping down his unease as the old scars on his chest tingled.

"How's the hunt going?" Reno asked cheerfully as he lit up. Lyn glanced back at them before lifting the hose to clean a spray of blood from the wall.

"He's a slippery bastard Red," she replied with a shake of her head. "Gives them just enough to know how to contact him and it's different each time. He knows they're compromised every time I try and follow up."

"I think we've found one that might know a little bit more. Or at least he's involved at a different level," Reno beamed. Lyn looked at Rude's burden and motioned at the chair in the center of the room. She leaned towards Reno and he gave her a pull on the Sunburst before she continued cleaning up the stains of her last interrogation.

"You should go get that arm looked at," Reno suggested once Rude had set Li He down. "And I think Mullaney wants to talk to ya stud."

"You sure?"

"I got things here," Reno nodded as he removed his jacket with a flourish so he could roll up his sleeves like Lyn. She smiled crookedly watching him and gave their new target a squirt with the hose. He started awake, blinking sluggishly.

"Nice tattoo," Lyn complimented. Rude closed the door.

Hammond was back downstairs beneath the table where his equipment sat trying to convince two wires they belonged together. He didn't look up until his mission was accomplished and then he managed to bang his head against the table.

"Aw crap," he hunched over holding the affected spot. "Here. She's been blowing up my lines all day," he pushed a headset towards Rude. Flipping a few dials he lifted another mike. "Mjolner, Rude's on."

"Is Reno okay?" was her first startling question into the headset.

"Are there side effects?" Rude asked as his mind clicked over into gear again.

"Verdot contacted me asking about that Summon Materia. When he said it was used successfully once but fell apart I didn't know if it meant Lyn's boy clone fell apart too." She breathed a sigh of relief and seemed to sink into a chair. "Not that I care but what was it? What element?"

"Wind," Rude supplied. "Manifested in something like a tiger."

"He is full of wind," Mullaney agreed. "I heard Sa Gong was attacked. How bad?"

"City's in ruins. Not much left. Still trailing Godo?"

"Godo's army all met up at a canyon and we're in another siege," she answered with what sounded like a shrug in her voice. "They're more desperate this time and Seph's sure the Empress will be here any day."

"Probably a few days yet. There were a lot of dead Imperials," Rude answered. Mullaney made a grating sound in her throat, perhaps an agreement.

"Did they send anyone? Seph asked Grim to send men."

"I'll ask."

"What kind of intelligence network are you? You don't know anything," Mullaney complained before launching into a reminiscence on the good old days under some previous Turk director's watch. As Rude listened his back and shoulders relaxed and a knot unclenched in his gut. "Back when the Turks were a _real_ force there would have been Blues all over the city. I'll talk to my uncle about the budget because this really is just unacceptable."

Rude couldn't help his smile as she continued on in this grumbling vein. He could picture her pacing in her work room or fussing over some small gadget, her ponytail swaying. But she was alive and well fretting over his safety.

"Watch yourself Mullaney. There's a rat here. Could be one with you too."

"Can't you people manage anything over there?" she growled. "Why aren't you out looking? Get off the radio! Report back once he's found!"

"Yes ma'am," Rude smiled wider as she clicked off halfway through shouting an order at Simmons. Hammond was back under the table hissing a curse as he sucked on a burned thumb. "Thanks Hammond."

"She hasn't been that annoying since the Captain gave in and let her come with his part of the army," Hammond sat up so he could look up at the stoic Turk. "'Course I miss her touch with this hunk of junk. Signal never fails but it only ever really worked for her. She's good. Really good with this kind of stuff."

Rude gave him a nod as Hammond blew out an exasperated sigh. He looked over the consul before levering himself up into the vacated chair.

"She must really like you," Hammond remarked as Rude turned to go. He hesitated in almost a flinch. "She's not like that for just anybody. And you don't just smile for anyone either."

"Oh?" Rude quirked an eyebrow as he pointedly turned away.

"Especially after this attack I think you should maybe, ah..." Hammond's unusual daring seemed to desert him as Rude began leaving. "I mean, lots of us died. You never know who's really gonna miss us...sir..."

Wise words Rude reflected as he recalled Kaede arguing over moon cakes with Reno. Mullaney appeared unbidden in his thoughts pulling him through a crowd to go and look for Reno and Sephiroth. Shaking her out of his mind Rude made for the infirmary set up a few buildings away.

A snub nosed nurse with bloody bandages around her sweaty forehead unbound his arm before hurrying off shouting about needing more disinfectant. Rude sat on the windowsill where she'd placed him patiently. He watched white clad bodies hustle or wounded men limp through the halls with grim faces. Their eyes were hollow and deep lines had formed around their mouths or across their foreheads.

"That will keep you out of training for a while I think," Grim sighed as he levered himself onto the sill next to Rude. He looked tired and much aged. Rude turned his arm over examining the blistered skin.

"Briefly," he conceded.

"The woman has been working at something. Her interrogation room is noisy and she is always having to clean it," the Lieutenant observed offhand.

"She'll have her answers," Rude shrugged. Grim made a grunt as distaste flashed across his face. He folded his arms over his chest surveying the wounded surrounding them. "Have you sent reinforcements to the Captain?"

"Yes. What could be spared as we hunt the Empress. She moves fast to join her husband. If luck holds we'll have her in one of the passes between here and there. I go shortly to lead the assault. Hammond will mind things, as always."

"Good luck."

"And to you. Perhaps when I come back your arm will be well. We will resume your practice then. There is something different in your face and I think it will be to your advantage." Rude had no answer to that. He rubbed the stubble on his chin wondering if Beatrice would recognize him. Grim clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. It becomes you," the Lieutenant offered a rare smile as the nurse returned.

"_You_ shouldn't be up and moving, Lieutenant or otherwise," she stared him down with two brown eyes like frozen earth.

"I will see if I can run the battle from a rickshaw," Grim promised. She put one hand on his thigh as Grim moved to stand and brought him pale faced down onto the sill again with the slightest squeeze. Leaning towards him she raised her eyebrows.

"I didn't waste all that stitch work for you to tear it open again. Nevermind the blood you lost the muscles are barely capable of holding your weight. It'll fail you too fast for what you've a mind to do out there."

In a swift movement Grim removed her hand and settled her on Rude's lap. The Turk was no less shocked than the nurse at their sudden proximity.

"You should concern yourself with this patient," Grim advised before departing with a slight limp. Rude and the nurse sat in mutual shock until she delicately cleared her throat. He set a hand on her back as she put her feet on the ground. After a bit of red cheeked fussing over her rumpled, sweat stained uniform she began a liberal application of disinfectant on his wounded arm.

"Next time I'll sew him into the bed frame," she threatened as she blushed again.

"Thanks," Rude grunted as he examined the fresh bandages.

"Sure," she nodded rolling his sleeve back down. "I don't think it'll scar too bad, maybe some discoloration. If you're worried about it though you might go the route of lots of other soldiers. They've gotten tattoos. I never thought I'd get to be an expert during the war."

"Tattoos?" Rude looked up at her. Her fingers touched his jaw and she shifted his face to check a scab along one side of his scalp.

"Yeah. Lots of you boys have 'em. I'm surprised you don't really. Must be new to Wutai."

"Have you seen any of a bird?"

"Sure. Birds are a big theme here in Wutai. The prettiest I ever saw was Lieutenant Grim's. He's got a big one, a red and gold phoenix with beautiful eyes in the tail going all down his back. I got a rare chance to see it when I was stitching him up, not that that was all there was to look at," she gave him a coy wink as the color drained from Rude's face.

"Eyes in its tail?" Rude repeated. She nodded as the smile ran away from her face. "Thank you," he stood, leaned down, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you." Leaving her bewildered he took off at a run angling straight for the interrogation room.

"Hammond, has Grim left?" he burst into the main hall. Hammond yelped as he jerked around and caught his funny bone on the corner of a consul.

"Yeah, just missed him," Hammond grit out. "Left maybe twenty minutes back with his men. Heading off the Empress."

"Get me Mullaney," Rude demanded as he took the headset. Hammond flipped a few switches and fussed with a dial.

"What?" Mullaney sounded like she was shouting across the room.

"Mullaney pick up now. Grim's on his way with reinforcements."

"Good," she grunted over the sound of her fussing with the headset. "Why does that sound like a bad thing when you say it?"

"Tell Sephiroth to watch him when he gets there. Keep him in check and close," Rude instructed.

"Close or taken care of?" she demanded.

"Close and quiet. He doesn't leave. We'll be there. And Mullaney,"

"What?"

"Don't do this yourself. I would..." he hesitated looking away from Hammond's slack expression. "Tell the Captain and stay out of harm's way."

"There's no time for this!" her voice went up an octave. "There are bigger things at stake! Simmons! Man the fort!" The line went dead as Rude sent up what he knew was a useless prayer. Mullaney's neck was as good as cut if she thought it would help Sephiroth.

"What's happening?" Hammond's hand closed around Rude's arm with surprising strength. His dark eyes were desperate, brows pinched in denial.

"Mind things here," Rude shook his head breaking free.

"Not the Lieutenant!" Hammond argued catching Rude's other arm now. "No!" Rude couldn't offer him any consolation. "No!" Hammond cried again as if repetition could undo the truth. The communications expert dropped into his seat as Rude took off towards the interrogation room.

Pushing the door open he saw Lyn look up from cleaning her hands and Reno smoking on a stool in one corner. Their victim was unconscious and bloody, slouched before them.

"Dead end," she sighed with a shake of her head.

"What?" Reno stood up. Blood made a delicate spray up the left side of his jacket, flecks drying on his cheek.

"Grim. He's got the tattoo, the bird with the eyes. A nurse saw it when she patched him up," Rude reported. Something went cold in Lyn's face as Reno muttered a swear.

"Did you tell anyone?" Lyn inquired.

"I passed word to Mullaney to have the Captain detain him but I didn't give her more information than that," Rude answered. "He's already left. Hammond was there. He assumes the worst."

"I'll go tell Verdot," Reno turned to leave.

"No," Lyn stopped him. Both boys turned to stare at her. She tossed her hand towel on the floor. "Verdot cares about the results and that is what we'll bring him. Bai Yan and the Empress in the same place. Life is wonderful. You've got five minutes to meet me at the bikes. This goes no further than it already has." Lyn strolled past them as she lit a cigarette.

"I think the last time she dragged us along with her we got used as bait," Reno observed idly.

"We're always bait," Rude reminded him.

"Are you good with this one yo? You and Grim are almost close."

"There's only one person in Wutai I wouldn't kill for the Shin-Ra," Rude shook his head.

"So much for feeding Mullaney to Ifrit in pieces," Reno grumbled as he avoided looking at Rude directly. "Lyn's gonna feed us to Ifrit if we don't hurry yo."


	37. Tangled Webs

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 37: Tangled Webs

The few times Reno had worked directly with Lyn had never been anything like this. Equipped with her broad sword she was never at a loss for what to do. But when Reno and Rude had met her at the bikes she was holding a forgotten cigarette as she stared vacantly at the building. Ash had fallen all over her when Reno startled her back into the present with a throaty roar from his Asena bike. The younger men had pretended everything was perfectly normal.

As Reno followed Lyn's almost suicidal recklessness in her haste ahead of them he tried not to wonder what her unease meant. Lyn and Grim hated each other, right? But rather than gleeful she looked pale.

Lyn swung to such an abrupt halt that Reno almost crashed into her. Lyn was completely unconcerned as she studied the surrounding rock faces. The sounds of violence echoed up ahead. She hesitated long enough that Reno lit up a Sol Sunburst and offered it to her by way of politely asking for her attention. She took it without looking at him.

"You two are fine Turks," she observed idly as the pair of them exchanged glances. "Our top objective is the Empress. Grim can wait if he has to."

"You think these other guys are in on it?" Reno asked.

"Trust your gut," she shrugged honestly. "Watch your skins." Her sword flashed free of its sheath and she bent back over her bike.

They plunged into the pass and roared straight into the middle of an all out assault without a backwards glance. Reno lost both his bike and his comrades quickly. SOLDIERs, Fenrirs, and enlisted were fighting the demon masked Imperials and Elite Shinobi. Reno cut through the Wutai forces alongside Shin-Ra troops as he hunted for either Grim or the Empress. The pass itself was illuminated in gouts of fire and blasts of magic, the occasional flash of lights from a machine throwing everyone into unsettling blindness.

He cut through men and lobbed spells, the cacophony of armed combat somehow louder than his hammering pulse. The undercurrent of fear that came with life and death struggles kept his senses sharp. He'd learned somewhere along the line how to harness it instead of letting it overcome him. At times like this it played an integral part in his survival.

An Elite threw him against the ground with a surprise attack from behind. Reno scrambled onto his back just in time to avoid impalement. He put his foot into the other man's guts and tried to get up. The Elite hit him again in the jaw so hard that stars danced in his vision. As his sight honed in on the blade making for him he wasn't quite able to formulate the realization he was about to die. The millisecond it crystalized in his awareness a standard issue SOLDIER blade cut the attacking Shinobi in two.

Grim stepped over him and impaled another before clearing the space around them with a gout of flame. Spattered with gore he reached down and caught Reno's stupefied arm, hauling him to his feet. A staccato cut decapitated another enemy.

"Come on boy," Grim urged. Reno snapped his elbow into Grim's solar plexus and planted a foot in the lieutenant's chest. Grim's eyebrows came together as he looked up in confusion. His eyes slid a fraction to the right. Pulling Reno's knee forward so it unbalanced him he cut the legs out from under another Imperial. "Focus Turk!" Grim advised dragging them both up again and putting his back to the red head.

Reno reacted mechanically to another attacker as he tried to put things together. His brain clicked uselessly except in its efforts against other Imperials. Grim's back touched his as he threw up a reflect spell to return an incoming magical attack. Reno reflexively knocked down an opponent that might have caught Grim's side and then crushed his skull.

"There she is," Grim's voice grated out of his throat as he nudged Reno and indicated a pillar of fire. "The woman will be there too."

The pair of them cut through the battle in search of Lyn and Xíhē while Reno still struggled to put fragments together. His gut told him not to let Grim out of his sight.

Lyn and the Empress with her demon mask were something to behold. It seemed they had both reached the conclusion that this was the battle. This would decide their fight once and for all. Around them other bodies struggled but they all seemed content to leave the women alone. Both of them were covered in blood.

Reno bludgeoned some Imperials getting too close as Grim unleashed poison. Somewhere nearby Reno spotted Rude holding back several Imperials at once with a spear he'd claimed from the dead. It cracked against bodies and stabbed with power and precision.

"Shit," Grim snarled behind him. Reno twisted towards Lyn in time to see her slip on some loose footing, Xíhē's conformer marking a shallow red line across her throat. Lyn lashed out with her sword to buy time but the Empress crushed her arm and cracked the Turk's ribs. As Reno struggled to get to her Lyn responded with a kick that came into audible contact with Xíhē's ribs in turn. The Empress staggered back while Lyn regained her footing. She moved forward with the sword cocked over one shoulder. It whistled, shattering the mask on impact.

Reno was almost there when two Shinobi broke the lines, landing knives in either of Lyn's shoulders. She pitched forward with a snarl. Reno caught one about the middle as Grim decapitated the other.

"You!" Xíhē choked at Grim. Lyn was up now and slammed the butt of her sword into the Empress' stunned face. She collapsed right there.

"Clear 'em out," Lyn commanded as she looked at Grim. The Lieutenant put two bloody fingers into his mouth and whistled shrilly. Reno stood slack jawed. Lyn bent and removed the prayer beads from around Xíhē's wrist, snapped a zip tie around her hands, and then sat down on the unconscious Empress.

While she panted light came from overhead in sudden brilliance. Reno raised his arms so he could look up. On the cliff faces stood hundreds of Shin-Ra troops with automatic weapons, three flares glowing like a false sun in the sky.

It took less than fifteen minutes to kill those that wouldn't be taken prisoner as the rest surrendered. Reno just stood staring at Grim removing the knives from Lyn's shoulders. Rude had joined him at some point with an equally stupefied look.

"Am I to understand they figured it out?" Grim inquired as he applied a rudimentary cure spell. Lyn winced as she took out her smokes. She shot the pair of them a crippling glare.

"That's their only draw back," she replied tersely as Grim probed the now scabs. "What the Hell put you on his trail?"

"You..._planned_ this?" Reno demanded.

"You're lucky things played out this way. If Grim'd made it all the way to the Bug Captain and been detained we'd have been in real trouble." She extracted her phone and dialed a number, smoking as she watched both boys.

"What about...Sa Gong?"

"I had to do something to draw out the Empress and leave Godo vulnerable," Grim answered.

"Bagged her. We've got Ifrit," Lyn informed whoever answered. "We'll meet you boys there." She ended that call and punched in another number. "Told you so Verdot. We're off now to meet up with the Bugs...they're with me. They put enough of it together I had to bring 'em with me or risk 'em blowin' the whole thing wide open." She shot a sour look their way as Grim cast cure on them both.

"Perhaps over a drink," Grim raised a hand to stop Reno before he could ask anything else.

"The Yakuza," he shook his head and caught Grim's arm. "Why were you manipulating them?"

"One organization is much easier to check than five," Grim answered simply. He removed Reno's hold before advancing. "No survivors!" he announced. Reno and Rude both turned, watching in silent horror at the wholesale slaughter of unarmed men.

"Time to go," Lyn sighed as she heaved herself up. Reno realized he was slouched on his knees staring at the carnage uncomprehendingly. He had no idea how much time had passed. "I should have known you were too smart once you even heard the name Bai Yan," she said looking down at him. Her hands were in her pockets.

"You've had him playing both sides for a while," he surmised.

"About four years now," she nodded. She glanced at Rude and placed a hand on his silent back before laying the other on Reno's cheek with shocking tenderness. Her touch lingered barely a few seconds before it vanished. "This job will never stop taking from you if you try to look outside it. Be careful of that." Reno looked up towards her and saw the weary expression on her face.

"You take the Empress Rude. Red, I might need a ride." She assumed her command again before crossing towards Grim in the middle of issuing orders.

"Why am I surprised? Why am I surprised they set everyone up?" Reno looked up at Rude as he climbed to his feet.

"Because it cost us Kaede," Rude answered.

"What do we do with them?" he gave his friend a hopeless smile.

"All they did was convince Karasuma to consolidate by preying on his power hunger and the dissatisfaction of the younger members eager for more action and less talk. I'm curious to know what incentive 'Bai Yan' offered to entice Karasuma into thinking there was better opportunity working with him and keeping up a façade with the Shin-Ra. Of course that's the dirt Lyn'll use as an excuse to crush the Yakuza once the war's over."

"Smart and handsome," Reno mused disheartened. "Does that mean I set Kaede up for murder?"

"No," Rude shook his head as the muscles shifted in his jaw. "It means Karasuma killed her while he unwittingly danced to the Shin-Ra tune. Lyn didn't set it up the way he played it out. She'd have known better than to kill Kaede."

"Would she?" Reno prompted bitterly. Rude touched Reno's cheek like Lyn had and raised his eyebrows. Without another word he turned and slung the unconscious Empress over his shoulders. Reno trailed behind him thinking about Lyn's unusual reaction to everything that had happened in the last two days.

She didn't say anything when she climbed onto the scavenged Asena as sunrise broke and maintained the silence most of the way through war ravaged countryside with intermittent patches of rich forest. She kept a hand loosely at Reno's side as he tried to guess what other secrets she might be keeping. Ahead of them Rude managed with the Empress lashed across his bike. Grim had stayed behind to get the convoy in order and move the rest of his men in a more orderly fashion towards Sephiroth's army.

They came upon Sephiroth's uniform camp positioned in another seige at a fair sized city with high walls whose name Reno didn't remember. After travelling all day with only a handful of breaks his muscles were stiff and he was hungry. They followed the slithering road towards camp and came to a halt when SOLDIERs hailed them.

"Sephiroth's expecting us," Lyn announced from behind Reno as she proffered her ID badge. They waved her through without checking, one shooting her a distasteful look.

"An admirer," Reno remarked sarcastically.

"Who wouldn't want this much babe on the back of their bike?" she smirked. Reno shuddered as revulsion prickled the hair on the back of his neck.

"I'm so glad we haven't eaten recently," he threw back at her. She laughed.

Sephiroth was waiting for them outside his command tent. He looked perfectly at ease thumbing through reports on an outside bench. Reno looked around expecting to see Mullaney but she was strangely absent. They came to a stop and killed the engines.

"Restrain the Empress," Sephiroth instructed two SOLDIERs nearby without look up. They took the lashed burden from Rude's bike and spirited her away. Lyn winced as she stood, probing one wounded shoulder. "Her capture almost makes me glad to see you," he remarked to the Turks.

"That's saying something," Lyn's eyebrows arched. "Godo's in the city?" Sephiroth stopped reading and looked up at her.

"My time will be quite wasted if he isn't," the Captain observed. He spared a glance at Reno and Rude before doubling back for a second look. "You have the Ifrit?" The question was directed at Lyn but he hadn't quite finished examining the younger Turks. By way of answer she just pulled back her sleeve to expose the prayer beads.

"Disregard any previous messages about Grim. We'll give you a full report once he shows up with reinforcements," Lyn advised.

"Visit medical and rest. We'll reconvene this evening once I've had a chance to talk with the Empress." Sephiroth pointed in the direction Reno presumed medical might be found. None of the three Turks objected, Lyn resuming her seat heavily as they prowled slowly through camp until they found the medics.

Reno sucked on a cigarette as a medic tended some minor cuts on one arm. The stinging disinfectant hardly bothered his exhausted mind and body. He was just turning to say something to Rude behind him when he spotted Lyn leaning over her knees several seats away. Her back was facing him and her shirt had been stripped away, the straps of her bra pulled down over her shoulders. Ordinarily he would have gagged but the sheer number of scars roped across her back and shoulders riveted him. She'd been shot at least four times, there were marks from burns, and more than a few slashes and stitch marks.

Her last name was Corsigg he recalled, wondering where she fit into this puzzle. Just who the hell was she? The marks rankled him because they made her human. Lyn wasn't human. Sure she bled but this was the creature that had masterminded the consolidation of the Yakuza and lured the Empress into attacking by turning Grim into an informant and sacrificing Sa Gong. What was her angle? Why did she give a damn about the Shin-Ra? Anyone with that much luck and conniving surely could make way more money independently than she did working for the company.

"You look different," Mullaney said on his other side. He twisted around and saw her standing in front of Rude. She removed his sun glasses so she could squint into his eyes. "What about that guy?"

"Taken care of," Rude answered wearily. Reno turned away discreetly when Mullaney sat down beside his friend.

"All done," the medic gave him a smile. Reno pulled his shirt back on and didn't wait for Rude. He strolled out into the sunlight wondering if Mullaney would be at risk too. For Rude's sake he hoped not. He rubbed grit out of one tired eye.

"I hear bed's this way," Lyn announced as she came out in her bloody shirt rolling back the sleeves.

"What do you get out of all this?" Reno asked before he could stop himself. He bit his tongue as soon as the question escaped. She pursed her lips thoughtfully.

"Satisfaction," she shrugged at length.

"Why do you work for the Shin-Ra? You could make oodles of money as an independent contractor."

"I'm not creative enough to cause some of the shit storms they do. Cleaning up their mess is most of the fun," Lyn gave him a smile so viciously gleeful it turned his stomach. "Its a challenge and that's satisfying."

"Has anyone ever diagnosed you as 'bat shit crazy?'"

"All the time," she chuckled.


	38. A Grim Fairy Tale

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 38: A Grim Fairy Tale

Reno sat with the back tent flap rolled up idly chewing on a sucker because he'd smoked enough cigarettes that his throat burned. His agitation hadn't been conducive to sleeping so after only a few hours he'd gotten back up. Rude was dozing in much the same mind set a little ways away while Lyn had slept straight through the last nine hours curled around her broad sword like a girl with her teddy bear. Apart from realizing this was the first time he'd seen her sleep he found it disturbingly appropriate she took her weapon to bed.

Asleep he could see how exhausted she really was. Her face looked gaunt and she'd lost weight. Awake with her shark smile and the ready supply of intrigues she was master minding she was as ageless as the first time he'd seen her in the Midgar slums. It was coming up on eleven years since then.

He sat considering what to do. Lyn would never stop using him, playing him against impossible odds and setting him up for death. The question was did he allow himself to continue on in her game? The Shin-Ra themselves, Verdot and Grim and higher ups he'd only heard mentioned in passing, were mere barracudas against this Tiger Shark.

As of yet he didn't know. There was too much he didn't understand in her motives. How that would change his opinion he had no idea but he knew his ability to trust her was gone at this juncture. Second guessing her orders in the field would kill him. If he liked what he learned he knew he would go willingly into the killing fields. If not then he would find some way out of this mess. Either alternative would hinge too on Rude's reaction.

Simmons appeared silently in the predawn and nodded in the direction of camp's entrance. Reno leaned over to nudge Rude. The Milano sat up and gathered his jacket wordlessly. Reno considered waking Lyn. He wrestled with the decision until Rude leaned over him to lay one big hand against Lyn's sharp cheek bone.

"They're here," he said as her eyes cracked open.

"You two look like shit," she uncurled with a languid stretch before rolling to her feet belting the broadsword around her hips. In her bloody shirt she hardly looked any better as she lit a cigarette first thing. "Let's go Red. I'll let you ask all the questions you want."

Reno just grumbled and fell in behind her. Simmons looked hardly excited to see Lyn as he led the way towards the edge of camp where Grim's convoy was joining them. They made good time there as most men were interested in their breakfast rations doled out in the opposite direction.

The chill air was a relief. It cut through his skin and sharpened his wits, driving out the lingering weariness in his troubled thoughts. Beside him Rude moved with sure strides, the set of his jaw indicating that he too had reached a pivotal moment in their work for the Shin-Ra. Lyn by contrast smoked with her usual expression of a predator's amusement, scanning everything around them in quick but careful appraisal. She gave Reno a grin that creased the skin around her eyes when she caught him watching her with sidelong disapproval.

Grim looked no better than Reno and Rude. He was pale and leaning heavily against the tail gate of a battle tarnished truck. Blood seeped through his pant leg but his voice still carried with his commands. Haggard after the night's work he was less than relieved to spot two surly Turks and a Tiger Shark there to greet him.

"I am less than certain I can make it through an interrogation with you and a meeting with the Captain," he told them with a heavy sigh.

"I'll worry about the Bug Captain," Lyn assured him.

"That is hardly fair. You have rested at least," Grim looked between Reno and Rude.

"Tell 'em what they want to know about this affair. Red there's on the cusp of rebellion and I'm not up to a real internal dispute. We're close to ending this and I need my aces."

"Coward," Grimm accused as Lyn smiled wider.

"My day of reckoning's coming," she assured him. "Have at. Leave him in pieces big enough to put back together. Come on glow bug, take me to your leader," Lyn turned to Simmons.

"Sir," Simmons spat the word as Lyn grew more amused. She departed leaving Reno, Rude and Grim all staring each other down.

"The medics are this way," Rude said at length. Reno was far too busy trying to decide what to ask first.

"The stitching held. It just needs rest," Grim waved off the consideration. He stood up painfully. "There is a wood shed. The smaller my audience the better."

It took only a few minutes once they'd found a jeep to jostle three miles along roads between neglected rice fields, keeping between the camp itself and picket lines. None of would be able to fending off any potential threats from stray Imperials despite the risks of being overheard by curious SOLDIERs.

Grim settled against a stack of wood and propped his wounded leg up on another. He drew a few deep breaths with his eyes closed. Rude and Reno assumed seats. Reno spit out the succor stick and lit a smoke despite his irritated throat.

"May I begin by asking how you pinpointed me?"

"That nurse saw your tattoo," Rude answered.

"And what made you aware of me? Of Bai Yan?"

"Kaede and Sumire."

"Kaede the courtesan? She must have been impressive to ferret out so many secrets. I thought I was careful. But who is Sumire?"

"Li He. Sumire stumbled across their meeting and had a hair pin with a plumb flower on it. He burned her and kept the pin. She asked us to retrieve it."

"What...manner of luck must you have?" Grim shook his head incredulously. "And this is why you connected the Yakuza and the coup to Bai Yan. And of course the seige on Sa Gong was so obviously an inside job." He laughed.

"Its not funny yet," Reno spoke finally, cutting Grim short. His face was bereft of its usual smile. "What was your part with the Yakuza? With the slaughter at Kaede's house?"

"It starts quite a while before that," Grim answered seriously, scrutinizing Reno's expression. "I am sorry for the death of Kaede. I had advised against the revolt there on Lyn's suggestion. It was no secret that Kaede enjoyed the friendship of two rather notorious Turks. But Karasuma is vain and eager to show his muscle. I misread him in the way I told him to avoid destroying her establishment."

He was patient as Reno and Rude tore him apart with their eyes, scouring every inch of him for some tell. At length they both sat back as grief washed over them anew. Reno was surprised to feel relieved that Lyn had in her way quietly tried to save their friend. The best laid plans...

"How does it start?" Rude prompted Grim to continue. The Lieutenant visibly relaxed as weariness descended over him.

"In some other life I was a General under Godo. I fought with him against his brother and executed his every order with brash disregard for my own safety in hindsight. Such is youth and infatuation," he gave them a wan smile as Reno lit another cigarette. It wasn't a huge shock as he thought of Hammond's admiring eyes on Grim and the affection in Grim's voice when he spoke with the young blue coat. Emperor Godo was handsome and commanding if brutal in Reno's recent glimpse of him training his daughter.

"He's not really my type," Reno shrugged as Grim seemed to be awaiting judgement.

"And I was not his as the orders for my execution made apparent after a rash confession," Grim chuckled wryly. "Of course by then the war was over and his place secured even without me. And that is when the woman arrived."

"Did she still have gray hair?" Reno couldn't help himself.

"Even then, gray and standing like an angry cat's. She stood in my cell covered in the blood of guards with her arms crossed and offered me the chance to live. She had broken into the Imperial palace and painted the halls with slaughter despite overwhelming odds because she thought I might make a fine SOLDIER, one of the very first after Sephiroth. I accepted."

That certainly sounded right. Lyn always showed up when the chips were down offering salvation in one hand as the other waited eagerly to take hold of the soul. Reno could see her making the offer with her bloody broad sword and a smoking cigarette, grinning smugly because she'd be just as happy if he said no. There were contingencies for her contingencies.

"And then four years ago she came back to me and said she needed Bai Yan to work against the Emperor. I will admit that I partook with some glee although it disturbed me the sheer cost of life it involved, the many pawns I had to work through. The families were giving us trouble, sometimes allies and sometimes enemies as they worked their own angles and that is why I began with Karasuma, finding him vulnerable in the Imperial army via spies and contacts there. I groomed him, worked him up through the ranks, and it all has finally come to fruition so there is but one head in the Yakuza world.

"In the mean time I baited the Empress quietly. We were friends once though she lifted not a finger to assist me. I played on her guilt, fed her pieces to protect her beloved husband, sacrificed some troops to her wrath. And finally the treachery at Sa Gong which allowed you and the Captain your shot at Godo and made the Empress vulnerable."

Reno and Rude grilled him for a good two hours after that, hammering out particulars, cross questioning him in search of lies. Every angle of his story rang true and he never mixed up his details. He was patient and asked few questions of his own beyond expressing curiosity over the pieces they had compiled in their puzzle.

At last Grim closed his eyes and silence descended between the three of them. Reno at long last felt he had some grasp on things that had been working around them and their role over the last two years. He understood how they had played into dissention between the Sun Sect and Leviathan, how integral it had been and the degree of trust Lyn put in their capabilities.

"What do you know about Lyn?" Reno asked at last. Grim laughed.

"Of her history barely a glimmer. I am unwaveringly her ally, perhaps more zealously than I ever was Godo's."

"You come across as less than that," Rude remarked casually.

"Lyn is a manipulator. She plays her cards carefully and knows just how to bait me." He ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "In my turn I think I know enough of her ways to understand why she never allowed us to be friends. She has little need of that the way she is but I find myself wishing for the beginning days of our work together now and again when we shared drinks and even a few times I tried my hand at a woman."

"Augh!" both the younger men gasped in unison, Reno falling to convulsions as Rude tried to shake such a thought out of his head violently. Grim actually guffawed. He covered his eyes as his face went red.

"She was not exactly then as she is now. There was a time she was almost pretty and loneliness does horrible things to a man cut off from everything he ever knew and loved."

"Oh make it stop. Make it stop," Reno whined.

"I will say that she has never once trusted anyone as she trusts you two. She takes pride in you which is often why I go out of my way to trounce either of you stupid enough to accept a round of sparring." Grim was still smiling as his eyes drifted skyward. "That is as close as she can come to love. If you wish to know more you could try asking for whatever scraps she might feed you. I do know her story is somehow linked to Verdot and Hojo and her kinsmen are from House Corsigg who served the ruling house of the Midgar area in the years preceeding Shin-Ra's rise to power."

"Corsigg again," Reno muttered.

"Sephiroth might know more. He is very familiar with Hojo. Talking to Verdot is akin to talking with a wall when he feels your questions are not your business but Tseng knows a bit. He too is less than talkative though."

"Well, I'm disturbed," Reno stood up. "There's not enough alcohol in the world to blot that thought out. Ugh."

"Thank you," Rude said sincerely. Grim shrugged once he'd labored to his feet.

"You have earned the answers. Ask as you like but there is little else I could offer you except in correcting your boxing."

The way back was pleasant with a warm morning wearing on into noon. Reno's spirits were lifted though he still craved answers about Lyn. The more he knew the more questions reared their ugly heads. He doubted they had any bearing on the war but he burned to know them. Things had gotten too far out of hand to keep on blindly trusting in her machinations.

They deposited Grim at the medical tent despite his assurance that he was fine. The medics that took him assured them he was not. They stood just a moment outside the bustling tent filled with the dead, dying, and wounded before the same thought occurred to both of them.

Mullaney had tangled hereself inside a war machine three times their height. The only reason they could make her out was a boot sticking out of one hatch and her voice as she muttered to herself. Reno climbed up first and leaned in to spot her round back side wedged at the hips.

"Rude, you might enjoy this view better yo," he called idly and listened to the bang of her startled head against machinery. In record time she was out knocking him to the ground with a solid elbow to the chest. He lay there wheezing, unable to hear her threats. Besmirched like an urchin she came down the machine to plant a boot in his chest.

"I might have," Rude answered with his hands folded in front of him. A smile teased the corner of his mouth.

"I'll put you in the ground too!" she pointed with a heavy wrench. The pink in her cheeks at his reply took most of the venom out of her threat. "Why are you two here?"

"I wanted to ask you something," Reno tucked his hands behind his head. He gave her his best charming smile.

"No," she pointed the wrench at him like a newspaper brandished at a disobedient dog.

"Who was the Corsigg family?" Rude asked taking her by her wrench wrist and looping the other arm around her waist in a surprising move. He lifted her weightless from Reno as her mind worked for some kind of reaction.

"The Corsiggs?" she repeated when she was released. Rude helped Reno to his feet. "I don't know much about them. My Aunt Helen was a Bjorn, one of the hereditary monarchs that looked after Midgar. The Corsiggs worked for her like the Turks work for Uncle. When she left my Uncle with Cassilia the Turks went through and eradicated the Corsiggs and the rest of the Bjorns. That's of course not what the Plate text books say but its what happened."

Reno and Rude exchanged a perplexed look. Mullaney's eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

"Curious," Reno shrugged. She shot him an irritable look before zeroing in on Rude.

"Why?" she repeated encroaching on Rude's personal space. Rude shifted the barest amount but Mullaney caught this as she curled her fingers around his arm and tilted her head back to look into his face at just the right angle for an easy kiss. Rude had never needed rescuing from a woman before. They could never get him at their mercy. Reno thought about stepping in but Rude looked almost like he was considering taking advantage of her invitation.

Rude did just that and landed a kiss on her mouth with brazen disregard for Reno's presence. Shy Rude enjoyed himself as Mullaney reacted with surprise. He leaned back, one arm supporting her back and offered her a smile that almost made her swoon.

"I don't trade kisses for intel but I'll always take a kiss from you," he assured her. Mullaney was absolutely overwhelmed for a few more seconds before her face was shot through with crimson and she gave him a right cross that would have done Grim proud. Reno laughed as Rude staggered back a few paces. Mullaney's hands shook as she paced back to her machine, restlessly moving around it in desperate search of some occupation.

"Worth it?" Reno quirked a brow as Rude straightened up still grinning.

"Absolutely," he nodded.

"You two had better need something else!" Mullaney bellowed red faced.

"No ma'am, unless you know something else about the Corsiggs," Rude shook his head. "Or you had some better offer?"

"Out!" she ordered. Reno bolted as she lifted up something mechanical about the size of a baseball. He waited outside as Rude strolled calmly from the building a few minutes later.

"Stud," he grinned crookedly as Rude let out a shakey breath and shot him a wild grin.

"I thought she was going to stab me," he chuckled.

"Oh I think she likes you," Reno shook his head.

"Temporary insanity. She still likes the Captain better."

"Give her time to think about it hubby," Reno assured him wondering if the scraps Sephiroth offered would continue to satisfy. Rude's dusky skin was still slightly rosy. "I think we've about dead ended in our inquiries for now," Reno sighed when they were a ways from Mullaney.

"There's no out right now," Rude regained his poise. "We can't do anything but keep going."

"We've been this way for two years," Reno came to a halt.

"It all depends. The danger doesn't bother me. Its not knowing all the angles and being played a fool."

"We're in agreement."

"You look considerably improved," Lyn announced ahead of them.

"Augh," both of them shuddered in unison, turning away. Rude massaged his temples as Reno lit another cigarette and puffed furiously.

"I see Grim spared you no details," she mused and her eyes seemed to twinkle. She stood before them with her hands in her pockets chewing on a spent cigarette butt. When they could manage to at least look at her again her smile widened. "We've almost got all the pieces together for the final assault. This siege will end it. But I need one more piece."

"And what is that?" Reno inquired.

"The girl."

Reno's stomach dropped out at the smile twisting across Lyn's face.

"Why?"

"Godo's a hard man. The Empress isn't a guaranteed bargaining chip. His goose is cooked but it'd be easier if he surrendered rather than having to pick up the pieces of a shattered nation. But the girl, Yuffie, he'll probably bargain for her."

"Will we kill her?" Reno asked because he wasn't in the mood for not knowing the details.

"Its always possible," Lyn shrugged indifferently. "But she's worth more alive as incentive than dead as a reason for vengeance."

Reno stared at her long and hard. Rude waited patiently for his assessment. They'd never discussed Yue Fei in particular detail but Rude had ascertained Reno held her in some regard. Lyn kept his stare evenly. After a moment she stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I remember this little boy grinnin' up at me as we went toe to toe in a police precinct after his world had come to an end." Her voice was low as she stared through the camp distantly. "And for the first time in my life I taught someone a lesson that didn't come from the sharp edge of my sword."

"All you can do is make people _think_ there are rules," he felt himself smiling.

"If the bargain goes bad the rules say to kill her." She gave his shoulder a squeeze. "As long as she never goes back to Godo, well..." her voice trailed off.

"Why's a Corsigg workin' for the Turks?" he asked.

"Verdot saw me in a pink party dress once," she shrugged. "Rude, I'd think careful about throwing your lot in with his. His morals are subjective."

"So are mine," Rude gave her a smile that made her shark grin return full force.


	39. Blues Earned

**Dislcaimer:** I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 39: Blues Earned

"A full on assault. I'm tired of this war," Sephiroth stated simply over the map. Rude was sitting beside Reno in the command tent. Verdot, Lyn, Tseng, Grim and several other men Rude recognized only as ranks serving beneath Sephiroth were gathered for the discussion.

"There's a chance he might surrender yet," Verdot advised. "All we're asking is the time necessary to apprehend the Princess as added bargaining."

"We've got the Empress for leverage and Ifrit to counter Leviathan. He has no alternative," Sephiroth dissented with a shake of his head. "Leaving the Kisaragi blood alive will engender rebellion. Its setting us up for another conflict in the future."

"We need something to settle the people. They'll fight twice as hard if we execute the Emperor," Verdot countered. "Nevermind how much easier it'll be to handle the government here if its head is still in tact. The Yakuza have finally consolidated and the last thing we need is a vacuum for them to grow into."

"My concern is the war, not its aftermath. Ending it now and killing the Kisaragis will be far more effective," Sephiroth insisted.

Rude watched the pair of them debate back and forth. They were the only two who spoke, no one intent on challenging either organization's head. Lyn's cigarette was burning out in her fingers as she studied the discord, Tseng seemingly completely indifferent to either outcome. Reno was chewing on another succor as he occupied his hands flipping the pack of Sol Sunbursts over and over. Even Rude who knew he wanted Yuffie spared couldn't tell the red head had concerns over the events. Grim had his leg propped up as he studied the map denoting the assault, his mind presumably working over both alternatives in the interest of providing the surest solution to either option.

For his part Rude didn't care. This battle would be straight forward either way, the only difference being the particulars of how he would deal with Yuffie. It was already decided that he and Reno were to find her, the question was her fate. Rude was far more interested in how Lyn and Verdot were going to treat them after recent happenings.

"Where's the interest in the girl? Have the Turks softened?" Sephiroth demanded suddenly, his eyes going straight to Reno. "What stakes do you have in this? Why this girl?"

Reno didn't flinch at the direct stare. He sat forward and dropped his cigarettes on the table, removed the red sucker from his teeth and locked eyes with the Captain.

"Jealous yo?" he prompted with a crooked grin. Sephiroth didn't rise to the bait but his eyes narrowed. "If you ask me to cut her throat, I'll cut her throat. If you want an audience, I'll do it publically. That's my job. But yeah, I think its stupid. We spent all this time stirrin' things up between Ifrit and Leviathan so why not make it look like a coup? If we take the girl we can use her to make the Empress say what we want and then coerce the Emperor." He put his succor back in his mouth and propped his head on one hand. Rude tried to suppress the smile as Verdot actually looked surprised and Sephiroth annoyed.

"Oh? And how will you keep them sedate once Godo realizes what's been done? How will you keep him from a rebellion then?" Sephiroth demanded.

"Shtrip them of their Materia. That'sh the only reashon they've been able to keep pasche wish ush. Itsh a total defeat," Reno said around his sucker with a shrug.

Sephiroth braced his hands against the table and stared at the map. He absorbed the words as he studied the city and played out stratagems. Verdot did likewise.

"On the understanding that I have not yet agreed, if you were to take this approach you would need some force to even break into the fortress and take the girl. It would be no small feat." Sephiroth's eyes were less hostile, almost curious instead. Reno popped the sucker out of his mouth.

"Rude and I could have her out by dawn. If we don't we're dead and you can go back to obliterating the city."

"Grim, what do we have in the way of Imperial Uniforms?" Sephiroth inquired.

"A fine selection after the capture of the Empress," Grim answered. "They require some polish. Your standard Midgar soldier is a bit bigger but we could certainly make do. It is not an inspection."

"Theoretically then we could make it look like her unit," Sephiroth stood up straight, still staring at the map. "Theoretically you could take the girl and have her back. How much do you trust the Empress to mind her tongue in negotiations?"

"You leave her to me," Lyn finally ashed her cigarette. Her eyes flicked over to Reno and then to Rude. "I'll make sure she understands Red's credentials and how they'll apply to her daughter." Reno's hands flexed before he put them down on his knees. Rude had seen their handiwork. He was grateful beyond words that Reno had volunteered to learn Lyn's interrogation techniques, thus sparing Rude the chore.

Sephiroth looked across Lyn and her two protégés. He turned then to Verdot.

"If preparations are not set for dawn we attack anyway and the Kisaragis are forfeit," Sephiroth informed the Turk commander. "That is the only concession I will grant you. Grim, distribute the armor and pick your men. Take the others with you."

"Sir," the men around him saluted. They filed out after Sephiroth's swift exit, Grim hobbling out last.

"Gonna make it?" Lyn asked rolling the spent butt between her thumb and forefinger. She didn't bother looking up.

"I should worry more about the children if I was you," Grim responded with an irritable glance. Lyn flicked the butt at him.

"Augh," Reno looked away grinding his eyes. Rude tried to find anything remotely attractive about Lyn and failed miserably. Apart from generally being slim she failed every test of femininity. She grinned at Reno's melodramatic disgust as she swung to her feet. Her hands landed roughly on Reno's shoulders.

"You know I sleep and I've got some urges. Its been a day of revelations," she shook him roughly. Reno wormed away from her as she chuckled.

"Enough," Verdot raised his organic hand to silence them. He brooded over the table a handful of seconds. "That was admittedly well played Reno."

"Why thank you," he bowed from his seat.

"Which brings me to your most recent work regarding Bai Yan," he gave both Reno and Rude a wilting glare. "You ran the risk of endangering the entire operation. If you had stuck to your orders and concentrated on manipulating the Yakuza then perhaps things might have played more to your favor." Reno's eyes had gone acidic. Rude removed his sun glasses and leaned forward.

"What if Bai Yan was really a traitor?" he asked meeting Verdot's gaze. "What if Bai Yan really was going to betray us?"

"You think we'd miss something that huge?" Verdot lifted his eyebrows.

"Why shouldn't we? Isn't that the purpose of an intelligence agency? To gather intelligence? You've played us for fools since we were boys." This he said with a pointed glare at Lyn who watched him with dark eyes and a strange smile. "So if you plan to launch complicated intrigues and expect us to bumble through a mine field you're _damn_ mistaken. The job is to act on the Shin-Ra's behalf and that's all we've done. We haven't survived the Midgar slums and two years in Wutai on charm." His voice was low and dangerous, a volatile combination of anger, frustration, and bitterness all mixed into one.

Verdot's face was a perfect mask. He stared Rude down with impassive eyes while the Milano wondered if he'd just cost them their livelihood.

"And you?" he turned to Reno.

"What he said," Reno answered, for once not cracking a joke. His poison green eyes dared Verdot to object.

"Tseng you'll find them phones and handle the paperwork. Give them A-class clearance. Lyn, after this battle is set you're task will be properly indoctrinating them into the Turks back in Midgar." The command was almost casual. Rude blinked once in disbelief.

"A-class eh?" Lyn smiled. "That's Tseng's clearance level," she added for their benefit.

"Don't misinterpret. He's still your superior. Tseng, these two are yours exclusively. Once they've completed the formalities in Midgar they're yours to command. Do with them as you see fit but I'll expect status reports. As to your current mission, what were your thoughts?"

"I can track her with this," Reno produced the saffron Materia he'd given to Lyn a little over a month ago. Lyn shook her head checking her pockets anyway. "One good sleep spell and she'll be easy cargo. Rude and I are more than enough for a little sneaking and roughing up her Elite guard."

Verdot stared at Reno for another long minute. Rude realized it was the first planning session they'd been asked for _their_ plan. Usually they were handed an objective by Lyn who assumed they could figure it out or die. He turned to Lyn.

"Where did you find them?"

"They found me," she shrugged. "Go find the Bug Captain and see if he wants to make a diversion for your entrance Red. Rude, I'd like to introduce you to the Empress."

"Playin' favorites," Reno grumbled in mock concern. He swung out of the room as Verdot reached into his breast pocket. He extracted a bill for 100 gil and handed it to Lyn without a word. She pocketed it with a smile.

Lyn didn't say anything as she brought Rude through the camp. Rude watched the way SOLDIERs followed her movements, their faces mingled respect and disgust. Short haired and equipped with a broad sword, this woman had managed to alter the course of the war. Rude wondered what they knew of her if anything. To the Turks she was omnipresent and nebulous, Verdot's queen on the board. A well earned honor he admitted despite the recent hardships it had brought he and Reno personally.

_We'll catch up,_ he surprised himself in thinking._ Never again Kaede._

Whatever consumed Lyn's thoughts – and Rude would bet more than Verdot had they were many and very important – she didn't speak again until they reached a tent bristling with guards. She didn't even acknowledge the guards, just entered with Rude in tow.

Empress Xíhē reclined against the stake she'd been bonded to like she was enjoying the palace. She looked at Lyn with the contempt of a goddess.

"Enjoying the accommodations?" Lyn prompted settling on the hard ground like she was on silk pillows and ornate throw rugs. Leaning back on an elbow she reclined and studied their guest.

"I expect even the President himself could not provide such lavish service," the Empress replied unabashedly.

"You'll enjoy the stale crusts for dinner then. The men'll get maggots," Lyn nodded.

"More than they deserve."

"I'm sure the President would agree," Lyn smiled. She picked at some of the prickly grass as she watched Xíhē. Rude stood uncomfortably unobserved. The women stared each other down with open hostility, Lyn's expression edged with such raw hate Rude could feel his skin prickle.

"A dark savage for my entertainment? All the way from Gongaga?" Xíhē inquired after a moment as her eyes cut into him. "I see he's been diluted. Have your slums become so inbred you're reduced to introducing animals in the hope of healthier stock?" Rude checked himself before he could give Xíhē the satisfaction of a reaction.

"I thought royalty would be less...common," he remarked instead.

"The failings of the feudal system," Lyn agreed with a wicked smile.

"You taught it to speak. Impressive for the work of a dog." Xíhē was unperturbed.

"Drink him in. He'll be the last thing your little girl ever sees." Unnatural stillness left the words hanging.

"Removing your organs and feeding them to you will be the sweetest pleasure you'll have ever experienced when I'm through with you." Xíhē strained against her bonds, fingers reaching for Lyn an impossible foot away. Lyn moved her leg so her shoe was mere centimeters out of reach. The Empress' features were sharp, large eyes beautiful despite the way her face twisted with loathing. Lyn grinned with the pleasure of a demon, her face composed of thicker lines and sharper angles.

"Want to save her?" Lyn sat up suddenly, a breath away from Xíhē's face. The Empress went still. "Want to know the price of her life?" The women searched each other.

"Godo will send every one of us here to a watery grave," Xíhē threatened softly.

"Before he'd barter for the girl and his wife? Interesting," Lyn mused. "Find the girl and kill her."

"No wait!" Xíhē objected. Lyn was already at the tent flap. The Empress stared at the ground. "What is it? What price?"

"Surrender."

"You think you can get to her? That this savage can get through so many people without his head winding up a trophy for the Emperor?" Xíhē tried to look strong but she was terrified.

"Do you remember the little red head working for Sephiroth? The one that saved her?" Lyn squatted so they were eye level. "This one's twice as sneaky. And that little red head? He's mine. Everything I could do to that little girl I taught him to do."

"You wouldn't," the Empress challenged, her eyes flinching towards Rude hopefully. Lyn stood and raised her eyebrows. Rude knew his role. He took Lyn's place and set a hand gently against Xíhē's cheek.

"She will die knowing you refused our bargain," he whispered. He felt her muscles react. Before she could butt her forehead into his nose he had her pinned by the throat. "I'll tell her you laughed at the offer." Xíhē shook, willing him to burst into flame. He'd never seen murder written on someone's face, felt the cold burn of vengeance directed at him. Lyn motioned for him to follow her out of the tent. He obliged trying to forget that expression.

"Bring her to me alive and unharmed," she whispered when they'd reached the flap. "Or even my death will not keep me from you."

"A pleasure, highness," Lyn gave her a mock bow.

Rude released a shaky breath he hadn't realized was caught in his chest. He noticed they'd made it the better part of the way to Mullaney's before he'd come back to himself.

"Nothin' a woman won't do for hers," Lyn observed idly. "Remember that."

"Reno's more frightening," he half asked about her selection.

"I dunno. You gave me shivers." Her smile flashed across one side of her face.

"You! You're not welcome!"

Both of them looked up to see Mullaney brandishing the butt of the sheathed Masamune at Rude. Sephiroth was standing next to her with a flat expression, holding a mangled thing that might have once been a shoulder guard between his fingers like carrion. He looked at Mullaney with a spark of curiosity.

"All I want is some Materia," Lyn held up her hands mistaking the address.

"Not you. You can come over here," Mullaney shocked Lyn into silence. Sephiroth's eyebrows came up in a rare look of surprise. In a singular moment of agreement Lyn and Sphiroth both moved towards each other and out of the Masamune's six foot radius.

"What's happening?" Sephiroth asked Lyn with genuine confusion. Still speechless Lyn just held her hands out in equal ignorance.

"I need some equipment and I'll go," Rude assured Mullaney, keenly aware of his audience.

"Send Lyn's boy clone," Mullaney replied tersely. Rude felt the first touch of annoyance.

"Is it an apology you're after?"

"No."

"Good. I'd refused," he answered smugly.

"You dirt bag!" she took an angry step forward as the Masamune came down so she could clench her hands like a little girl. "Scat!"

"No!" Lyn's mouth fell open as enlightenment struck.

"Shut up! Its not like that!" Mullaney turned on Lyn. She gave Sephiroth a terrified look, her face turning pink. She whirled around and stormed into her makeshift armory, the Masamune still in one white knuckled hand.

"Well Cap, I'm for a drink of celebration to yours of consolation," Lyn tried to contain herself.

"I'm sure you know better where to find such a thing," Sephiroth answered as he sighted Rude like a falcon might a hare. "I have an army to manage in the mean time." He strode directly to Rude and laid one black glove on the Turk's shoulder. "Do not add to my list of things to manage."

"No sir," Rude answered with a single shake of his head. His heart started beating again when Sephiroth's shadow had passed. He didn't realize Lyn was nearby until she slapped him on the back with a thumbs up. The impression of her fingers fading from the grip on her broad sword almost made Rude smile.

Mullaney was throwing things around inside her armory. Metal crashed in heaps as she desperately searched for something, anything to keep from looking at him. Sephiroth's sword was set reverently on the anvil.

"Take what you want and go," she snapped at him without looking up. Rude eased himself onto a work table next to her. She went still as he studied her. "I don't want you."

"As you like," he shrugged despite the sting. Her pale eyes flicked to him while her fingers found a bolt she could wring.

"He picked me. He picked me out of all the mechanics in the Shin-Ra, even out of men Heideggar and Scarlet said he should take instead. He values me."

Rude waited for her to figure out what she wanted to say.

"He doesn't mind that I shout and throw things or that I can't stand not knowing how something works. I can help him. I'm useful. And we're friends and that's all but I don't want you. I want him." She stared at the table nervously. He just shrugged, not sure what to say to that. He entertained no illusions but it had been nice watching her react to him, feeling his heart stammer with nervous excitement instead of fear.

"Nothing to say?" she challenged, full of nervous bluster as she searched his face with pinched concern.

"I'm not sorry," he replied with a smile. Her face went scarlet but she grinned too when she looked down.

"I got my hands on a Full-Cure. And this one's got Barrier and Shell." She pulled a pair of simple leather gloves out from under some scrap metal. "Those should keep you safe. You've got more fire power in those prayer beads than I could give you. You'll...you'd better not be late. Seph's gonna torch that city."

"Patience is a virtue," Rude accepted the gloves. The Materia were as small as the prayer beads, no bigger than marbels, stitched into the wrists. He stood and tried them on, finding them a perfect fit for his usually too large hands. "Gotta go."

Mullaney shifted her weight still worrying the bolt. Rude was just turning when she took his elbow. She hesitated a fraction of a second before throwing her arms around his neck for a tight hug. Rude returned it for the few seconds it lasted.

"I'm impatient is all," she insisted with an extra squeeze. He let her go when she moved away. "Now get outta here before Seph gets the wrong idea tan guy."


	40. Kidnapping

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 40: Kidnapping

Reno lounged on his stack of hey, listening to armored feet stomp in crisp regiments through the city. Dusk was pricked with the first evening stars as a crescent moon climbed sleepily over the horizon. He shifted the sucker from one cheek to the other.

Not far away Rude was stretched out in a similar nap, one shoulder of his coat singed from their infiltration earlier in they day with Sephiroth's assistance. The Captain had launched a volley that rivaled anything Reno had ever seen, drawing attention to one side of the city. Reno and Rude had taken the opportunity to scale the wall, eliminate the guards stationed there in a brutal fire fight, and take cover in the city. Simmons had accompanied them as far as the wall with the same team Rude had led at the capital, taking most of the heat as a second minor distraction. "Repelled" they had retreated giving the illusion of victory.

Now that it was getting dark Reno stretched languidly and peered over the edge of his nest. They'd chosen the half destroyed hay loft specifically because it made an absurd hiding place. There was no roof and it stood precariously on two walls and a pillar. No sane infiltration would while away the daylight on such a perch.

With a glance they each knew the other's thoughts. They dropped like wraiths to the ground, creeping between the shadows. Reno paused just long enough to test the Sense Materia. He'd spent all day tapping into it, gaining insight into Yue Fei's whereabouts. Its mate transmitted an image of its whereabouts directly into Reno's mind like a photograph. This had been unnerving at first, a double vision that had caused vertigo. The fact that he was lying down was the only thing that saved him from pitching over the side of his loft.

His day long reconnaissance had given him a patchwork of knowledge about Yue Fei's location. He knew she'd fashioned it into some kind of ornament and safe guarded it religiously. Judging by the images she had knotted it into her sash at the hip. As such he'd seen the dining hall and much of the grounds surrounding the central fortress so he knew about the rope and grappling hook she kept coiled in a peony bush to scale the interior wall. He knew what her room looked like and the passages leading to it. He also knew her brothers were picking fights so she mingled with the Elites and the guard, saying things that made them grin wryly without their demon masks.

At present Yue Fei was up high looking down at the surrounding buildings near the fortress. She must have been perched on the wall for the neighbors to appear so close. He noted the location of the moon and opened his eyes to sort out their location.

"On the wall. Moon's behind her."

"West side of the fortress," Rude provided the direction as Reno seemed incapable of articulating.

They worked through perfectly mapped roads set to the points on a compass with the added benefit of the Sense Materia. So long as Reno tapped into it he could identify someone else with Materia of any variant nearby. The standard Imperial always had a rudimentary set of Materia, usually a combination of Cure and Fire. Elite Ninja generally had very powerful elemental Materia, but all of them were equipped. As Reno got better at utilizing his yellow trinket he was better able to gauge distance. It sapped his strength however and they were forced to pause frequently, not too much a hindrance for the number of times they waited out patrols or unfortunate civilians still caught within the confines of the fortress.

Yue Fei's favorite climbing spot over the inner wall was irregularly guarded. Men paced restlessly back and forth, the paper lanterns they carried casting long shadows over the packed dirt and red walls. Reno and Rude studied the ascent.

"Boost?" Rude murmured.

"I'll get the rope," he nodded.

When the guard had gotten halfway through the length of his pacing away Rude darted up to the wall. He set his back against it and cupped his hands. Reno's teeth clenched on the sucker stick as he bolted. With practiced finesse Rude gave him the extra push up he needed and dove for cover. Reno managed to pull himself up and slide down the other side into the brush. It took a bit of hunting to find the exact peony bush but he retrieved the rope and grappling hook.

He listened for the footsteps on the other side. They were barely audible but they came. Then they paced away. With a quick look over his shoulder he slung the grappling hook up, felt it catch, and climbed up the wall. When the guard had paced away again Reno perched on the top, adjusted the rope and hook, and Rude was up and over before he had processed the entire movement.

Yue Fei had moved – as was her wont – to the dining hall. That was fine by Reno. The plan was to lurk in her room. They took her grappling hook with them as they crept like beasts through the fragrant brush.

Getting onto the fourth floor took some creative doing an a handful of moments clinging to the underside of curled roof tiers but they made it. They slunk into her room after quietly undoing the latch on the window with a little knife and settled into hiding patiently. Rude crouched inside a closet while Reno slipped into the ceiling tiles making sure they fit back together perfectly.

It was two hours before Yue Fei came to her room with none other than the Emperor.

"Will she be back soon?" she asked, her high voice fraught with concern.

"As sure as the tides," Godo answered with gentleness far different from the one time Reno had seen him training her.

"When all of this is done can we go back to the ocean? I like the sea shells," Yue Fei sounded more eager now.

"Perhaps if you won't put crabs in Asa's room."

"You said we Kisaragis had to be ready for anything. I can't help it she wasn't."

"Yes but Asa's different."

"_Special_ maybe," Yue Fei snorted and Reno smiled.

"_You_ are the heir to my throne, Yue Fei. My only heir. You're different from all the others. You more than anyone have to be ready for anything."

"Like the Shin-Ra?"

There was the rustling of cloth and Reno imagined her climbing into bed, fussing with the covers.

"Like the Shin-Ra," Godo agreed wearily. "I fear they'll prove a thorn in Wutai's side for many years to come."

"Just wait until I'm big! I'll give 'em a good thrashing! One day when they're not looking bam! Lights out!" Reno listened to her smack her fist into her palm and Godo chuckle. "Those boys won't even know what hit 'em!"

"And they shall cower before you my girl. But for now sleep."

"Couldn't I help out the Shinobi? Just a little? I'm sure I could sneak right into that camp dad."

"You can help them by taking your lessons and learning. There'll be time enough for battles when you're older."

"Glory hog," Yue Fei pouted. Godo chuckled again.

"Good night girl."

"G'night old man," she replied cheerfully. "You'll wake me up if she comes back right?"

"You'll be the first to know."

The door slid shut almost noiselessly. Reno hardly dared a breath as Yue Fei rolled around in her blankets, shifting with the impatience of youth. At last she sat up and pattered carelessly across the room where he heard the window unlatch. He shifted the tiles in the ceiling as quietly as he could and lowered himself so he might drop silently onto the tatami mats.

Yue Fei was curled in the corner of her window sill. Her little hands cupped the saffron Materia he'd given her as she watched the city below. Only a pale edge of her face was exposed in silvery light. Rude crept across the floor from the closet. Reno lifted a hand to halt him. He stared at the little girl wondering if he was good enough to get the drop on her.

"There's a hole in your pocket," Yue Fei turned suddenly. Reno and Rude jumped. "That's a neat thing this Materia can do."

"So there is," Reno smiled as he extracted the twin Materia. She glared through the dark, one cheek bone and a patch of hair made silvery in the nocturnal backlighting.

"I knew you'd come if mom didn't. That grappling hook was a lot of trouble to nick," she looked back out the window. Silence filled up the darkness as Reno wondered what she might do. One of them should have stayed outside he thought realizing how easily she could escape if that was her choosing.

"What now?" Reno asked. "You could scream."

"I won't scream. You're going to take me to my mom." She stood up on the sill. "That's why you came here right? To catch me too? Its why you gave me this." The semi-translucent orb in her little hand flashed as she brandished it.

_You're up to something_, he thought with a smile.

"Shall we?"

"Can the Baldy keep up?" she glanced at Rude for the first time. Rude was standing patiently with his hands folded before him. He motioned her ahead out of the window. Yue Fei wasted no further time throwing a rope out of her window and repelling down the building. Reno and Rude followed.

Reno minded his suspicions all the way back through the palace and up over the wall. He was envious of how easily Yue Fei wielded her grappling hook. She paused at the top watching to see they followed. Reno peeked over the in search of some ambush but it was just the oblivious pacing guard. He and Rude timed it before sliding down and bolting for cover with their willing kidnap victim.

Yue Fei kept close to Reno's side all the way back to the walls when they had to figure their way out. They bristled with soldiers, shifting impatiently. Rude had led them to a different section of the wall where Simmons and his team had fallen back to meet them.

"You're up Mako-chan," Yue Fei informed him as she knelt in the shadows beside him. She was nervous despite her projected serenity. Rude motioned him still and adjusted the gloves on his hands. Reno hooked a hand around the little princess' eyes as he cast a sleep spell.

The next thing he knew he was lying in the dirt and people were shouting. He jolted up at the sound of an explosion. Rude was suddenly illuminated by the fires of his stolen prayer beads as Imperials swarmed. He was struggling, twisting away from the sharp edged swords of four Imperials as they descended on him with murderous intent. Reno struggled to get his limbs working as he wondered why Rude wasn't dispatching them accordingly.

His old friend muted a cry as he twisted away from a blade that cut a clean laceration from shoulder to hip. There in his arm was Yue Fei, unconscious and unwieldy. Reno's limbs snapped into action as he vaulted forward, baton humming at the ready. He cracked it into the nearest Imperial's face plate and took another by the scruff of his neck throwing him into comrades were he was impaled. Rude regained his footing and immolated another three headed their way as Reno diverted the remaining two that had been closing in to kill them.

When the killing was done they wasted no time with Yue Fei's grappling hook as more shouts came from nearby. Rude tugged on the rope and winced.

"What the hell?" Reno blinked, trying to figure things out as he took Yue Fei.

"Reflect," Rude pulled back Yue Fei's night time kimono to expose the bandolier of an Elite ninja studded with glimmering spheres. "You up first."

"You're injured."

"Duty first," Rude shook his head once.

"Dammit!" Reno barked as he slung Yue Fei over one shoulder and hauled himself up as fast as he could. He put Yue Fei down and pulled Rude up after him. They flung themselves over onto the ground and made a break for it as fast as they could into the treeline.

The SOLDIERs morphed out of the dark with their glowing eyes like a pack of wolves. Simmons barked some orders as the trees lit up around them from poorly placed magic attacks by pursuit. Men fell back to handle their assailants. Bikes and a jeep were waiting. Reno, Rude, and two SOLDIERs piled in as the bikes roared to life. They pealed out of their hiding place, decaying foliage and rocks kicked up in their wake.

Reno pulled open the unconscious princess' yukata and stripped her of her Elite bandolier, no fewer than eight little knives, a wakizashi, and a bangle she'd managed to secure around her thigh. He tore the shar pin out of her hair and found one last little dagger secured around her upper arm. Throwing it all into the front seat with one of the other SOLDIERs he half closed her yukata and turned to Rude. Peeling the blood soaked jacket away he pulled off the tie still kempt despite recent chaos and had the shirt the better part of down.

"Jesus," Reno shuddered at the wound. It had scraped bone across the shoulder blade, the raw muscle cascading blood. "Anybody got a cure?"

"Courtesy of Mullaney," one SOLDIER handed back a satchel. Reno opened it with slippery fingers, the contents spilling onto the jostling floor.

"Easy," Rude stopped him. Reno realized he was shaking. The Milano bent with a wince, collecting a potion and a Materia. It was full cure Reno realized as he wrapped his hands around it. Rude threw back the potion with a sour face. Reno didn't give it time to take effect before tapping into the Full Cure and casting the draining spell. The magic mixed with the potion for a more complete effect. The bleeding stopped as the muscles knit, worming across the exposed bone to meet like parted lovers. Reno watched desperately as Rude braced against the nausea and pain of such potent medicine, his arms knotting. Reno set a bloody hand on the back of Rude's neck as some of his fear abated.

"She reminds me of you," Rude said when the spell had run its course. It was still a raw cut needing stitches but the application of more magic was dangerous. Too much could overwhelm a body into shutting down.

"What?" Reno blinked. Rude fumbled at his feet and held up a salve that would hold the wound shut and prevent infection.

"The girl. She's like you. I get it."

"I'da never thought to use reflect, yo," Reno shook his head with a shaky smile as he squeezed the tube of salve over the long cut and pressed the flesh closed. He was having trouble breathing. "I'll give ya she's more trouble than she's worth though." Rude threw a curious look over his shoulder. Reno took a deep breath before pressing the cut into a seam, working his way down until it was an angry red line held shut by a silvery glue.

Yue Fei's little fingers touched Rude's side startling both of them. Her face was spattered with blood and soot. She looked between the two of them in uncertain fear.

"Did all those men at the wall die?" she asked unable to keep the tremor from her voice. "I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd try to cast sleep inside the city. I'm sorry, its my fault they're dead." Tears made tracks down her grimy face. Reno wanted to strangle her for the near loss of Rude and console her for all the bloodshed. Instead it was Rude who wiped a hand on his pant leg and took her chin, his thumb smoothing tears away from her crumpled face.

"Kisaragis don't cry!" she argued trying desperately to get hold of herself. "Kisaragis don't cry..." Rude took her arm and pulled her to sit with him.

"I am cold," was all he said as Yue Fei started to protest. She needed no further excuse to bury her face in his wide chest and seek solace.

When they arrived at camp a few hours before dawn Rude set Yue Fei onto the ground as she clung to his hand. Her face was wiped clean while Rude had his jacket draped over his shoulders like a boxer. Reno was too strung out to make a quip. He needed to thank Mullaney for the supplies.

The command tent was occupied now by Sephiroth, Verdot, Lyn, and Tseng. Rather than smoking Lyn was filing the edge on her broad sword, the metallic scrape the only sounds. The others were silent, all eyes fixed on the bloody trio that emerged.

"Check and mate," Reno smiled before they could realize he'd been scared. Yue Fei had recovered some of her color and her eyes weren't red anymore. She glared at the council like she'd called them to order.

"Where's my mom?" she demanded of the Shin-Ra elite assembled there. Lyn stopped her filing as a grin practically disfigured her face at such a tone.

"In confinement," Sephiroth replied evenly. "You will join her."

"You'd better hope my father sees fit to kill you, you long haired girl," she pointed at him like she had a sword at his throat. "Because if he doesn't kill you I'll come for you Sephiroth. I swear it." She sounded older already, her eyes dark with hatred. Sephiroth set his hands on the maps as his eyebrows came up. He studied her and to her credit Yuffie stood unabashed beneath a gaze that had paralyzed braver men.

"I hope you do princess," he answered. "You might prove an entertaining distraction."

"I'll be you're undoing," she promised blackly. "Now take me to my mother. I don't have anything to say to the rest of you Shin-Ra swine."

Reno expected at the very least irritation but instead Sephiroth rose gracefully. Everyone else watched in astonishment as he held out his gloved hand palm down. Yue Fei placed her tiny hand on his knuckles and stormed out of the tent as if he were a retainer escorting her through court.

"Rough night?" Lyn asked as Rude labored onto a stool.

"She'd make a great Turk," he replied in all seriousness.

"Way too much heart," Reno dissented.

"A little rough around the edges but well done," Verdot looked between them. Lyn smirked as she took a rag to clean oil from her sword. "At dawn Sephiroth will attempt to treat with Godo. If that falls through the assault will begin. Rude, by the looks of that shoulder you're out of combat."

"Give me something," Rude insisted looking up like Verdot had just insulted his mother.

"At the very most you can work with Mullaney. She needs help going through a check on equipment and concocting potions. Her time during battle is usually spent supporting the troops," he added before Rude could outright protest. "Reno, you'll partner with Lyn."

"Doing what?" Reno asked.

"I'll need someone with my back," Lyn replied raising her arm to expose the Empress' prayer beads. "It'll take most of my strength to use these puppies."

"Take a few hours of rest. This will be it," Verdot advised.


	41. A Day to Remember

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 41: A Day to Remember

Reno shifted his weight as the sun threatened the horizon. He wondered what today would bring, bloodshed or peace. Rude was paired with Mullaney who had showed him how to make potions and set him to the task with a hundred concerned glances thrown at his wounded back. In the mean time she'd detailed weapons and passed them out to equally nervous SOLDIERs and enlisted, all of them thinking this was it.

Lyn couldn't have cared less. She'd woken him up after a brief nap with a rough shake and they'd made their way for rations and now waited with a milling group of SOLDIERs. Tseng had come to her with a message earlier about troubles managing Yue Fei who'd been violently ill for some reason and seemed capable of worming out of any knots they used to restrain her but that they'd finally hog tied her.

"Reminds me of someone," Lyn had mused.

"You're quiet," Lyn remarked now behind him. She was studying her polished broad sword thoughtfully. Reno looked back at her as he jammed his hands in his pockets.

"I don't even know what to say to you. I've never worked with you like this," he answered, sitting down next to her so he could lean against a tree.

"Does that make me the cat that's got your tongue?" she smiled.

"I'm burnin' up with questions yo. I just don't think you'd answer 'em," Reno shook his head.

"Curious about old Lyn huh?"

"And just how old is 'old Lyn'?"

"33 and holding."

"See?"

"What is it with men always wantin' to know how old women are? Women don't give a damn about how old a man is," Lyn bent a knee so she could prop her elbow there and rest her head. She studied Reno long and hard. "39."

"Was that hard?" he smirked. "How long have you been a Turk?"

"Well, lets see," she leaned back against the same tree trunk as she fished out her smokes. She offered him one and he accepted as she tallied the math. "Been with the Shin-Ra...about twenty one years. Eighteen with the Turks," she added before Reno could clarify.

"What were you before that?"

"Human." Interesting word choice, particularly given the quiet tone she used.

"I meant before the Turks. Those three years?"

Lyn didn't answer immediately. She puffed silently as dark thoughts moved behind her face, the shadows filling up her eyes.

"I was doin' everything I could to prove I could be a Turk," she answered at length as she ran her hand through her short hair. She pulled on a patch at the nape of her neck before rubbing the skin beneath it in a display of...discomfort? Nervousness? "They weren't my proudest years Red." She said it so softly Reno had to strain to catch it. She looked over at him with a wan smile that softened the sharp edges on her face. "I try not to think about 'em."

It was shame and regret.

"Did it mean that much to you?" he frowned, afraid to ask what Lyn would find shameful or regretful. "Joinin' the Turks?" he clarified.

"Without a question," she nodded. "I've never been sorry I picked the Turks. My life is good. I got smokes, I got a nice little place that's mine when I want to be alone, I got comrades when I get sick of silence, and I got a boss who actively finds things that might kill me 'cuz he knows I'd sooner kill myself than work a desk." She smiled again but it was filled with happiness.

"You're crazy yo," Reno laughed.

"'Bat shit' wasn't it?"

"You never wanted any of those woman things? Home, man, kids, all that?"

"I can't want that any more than you can Red," she shook her head with a chuckle. "The world broke me young." Reno thought about it as they sat with their shoulders brushing. He looked skyward with her Junon Jezebel smoking in his lips. Cassie was the only thing that could have made him want something like that and she was long gone.

"So you lost your Cassie?" he asked.

"No there never was anyone like Cassie for me," she shook her head once. "The Corsiggs...or the Bjorns for that matter didn't have anybody like Cherry Cheese Cake. Maybe a Mr. Cassie could have saved me but I think I was just born broken Red."

"What about Verdot? You two seem awful close," he remarked and she laughed.

"You are full of questions," she shot him a grin and her eyes twinkled. "No, Verdot knows more than most and he seems to know how I tick – annoyingly sometimes – but that's about it."

"And Grim?"

"Ah Grim," she nodded. "He's strong as an ox and so full of loyalty. He'd put his life down for his cause. He's a Woot. He did give me butterflies when we were young but I think I just liked him when he was raw edges and hurt, something wild and careless about him. We were two of a kind then, a coupla kids throwin' ourselves into battle because kill or be killed made sense. But time mutes pain and eventually our original nature wins out and he went back to bein' who he was. That's who you see today. Sometimes I miss him comin' to look for me. Ah well."

"Huh," was all Reno could come up with to say in response to the far away expression. Her features were so sharp and she'd stalked through his life like an oceanic undertow, her motives her own. But sitting beneath a tree out of combat, taking long drags on their cigarettes and existing he saw the faint impressions of a woman. Against her sharp profile her eyes were soft, her short hair spiked in its customary style exposing her smooth skin and and the color complimenting her light tan. There was the faintest dusting of freckles banded across her cheeks and nose, a little smile easing her from a manipulator into a person.

"Yue Fei came of her own volition."

"Not shocking. Its what you'd have done to save someone you loved," she shrugged stubbing out the butt of her spent cigarette. "We'll see what she's got up her sleeve."

"She was armed to the teeth yo," Reno shot her a smile.

"She trusts you like you trusted me when Corneo was after you."

"Whatever happened to him?"

"Oh he's still down on Wall Street." Lyn's smile shifted and her eyes hardened into her more familiar expression. The woman he'd glimpsed vanished.

"He never bothered me again," Reno observed.

"I know," she nodded and he swore she'd grown fangs.

"What did you say to him?" he laughed because it somehow seemed appropriate that she'd handled it herself.

"I said you were mine," she looked at him in all sincerity.

"And Hojo?" he managed without letting his voice go horse as he tried to discern what it meant.

"I've got Hojo in...well, in a 'vice'," she chuckled at some inside joke, pressing her lips into her hand and smiling ahead. "Maybe someday you'll be unfortunate enough to know why that's funny."

"Can I ask you something else?"

"Sure." She turned her head to raise an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Why'd you look after me and Rude?"

"Well..." she leaned back again to survey the milling men several feet from them. She seemed to hunt for the appropriate words. "I just think of you two as mine." Turning back to him she gave him a sheepish smile as a faint red hue came into her cheeks.

Reno sat agog. It seemed to make Lyn uncomfortable so she stood up. She stretched and rubbed the back of her neck, shooting him a sidelong glance. He was still stupefied trying to grasp the connotations. It was so in line with what Grim had said it stunned him.

"Interview's over Red. Let's go see if we can't russel up some action."

"Pity," Reno recovered and smiled. "You know for a minute there I could almost see it. Grim said you were pretty once. He said he kinda misses you too," he smiled and watched her tan fade in another slight blush.

"Don't turn your charm on me," she chided, hands on her hips. "It won't do you a damn bit of good."

"Sure thing toots," he slapped her back. She covered her eyes grinning despite herself.

"I'm not nearly old enough to handle you two," she grumbled stalking after him towards the fronts.

Sephiroth stood with the Empress beside him. She was in full regalia, her mask pushed back on her forehead with the bristling fur head dress rolling down her back. Her arms were crossed and her chin was raised, a string of Rude's prayer beads replacing the actual ones Lyn had claimed. Beside her Yue Fei stood sullen, her eyes shooting towards Sephiroth with murderous intent. Reno could see she was visibly restraining herself from at least kicking him in the shins.

Verdot was on Sephiroth's other side. Arranged behind them were countless troops, the men disguised in Imperial armor like they were the Empress' troops and then the glowing eyes of the SOLDIERs glittering like an ocean of Materia. Reno and Lyn kept to a flank somewhere off center. It wouldn't do to insert themselves too far into the chaos. Not if Lyn needed to use Ifrit.

Reno glanced at the beads just showing beneath her shirt sleeve. She'd done away with the jacket and tie entirely, her white shirt unbuttoned at the collar. She looked on with studied boredom but the muscles in her jaw kept shifting. Reno took his turn offering her a cigarette from his Sol Sunbursts. She accepted with a nod but her attention was still ahead.

The gates of the city groaned open, the charred marks of fire and scores of weaponry hardly scratching its three foot thickness. Before them came Godo flanked by Elites and his soldiers, his armor magnificent and his handsome face set with a coldness that almost chilled Reno. He looked at his wife with utter disgust. For her part the Empress only lifted her chin higher, acting out her role lest Yue Fei pay the ultimate price.

"It's shameful that I find myself here," Godo announced managing to look down on Sephiroth from his inferior height. "What are the terms for the girl?"

"Not a thought for your wife?" Sephiroth twisted the dagger.

"Clearly the harlot's been bought," Godo replied.

"Papa!" Yue Fei burst, her eyes going round.

"Keep silent!" Godo snapped. "I'll have not a word from you, useless child. There's too much of your mother in you already!" Yue Fei shrank back at his tone.

"The price of a harlot indeed," the Empress set her hand on Yue Fei's head. "This from the man that has lost ground and control of Leviathan. The Bride is stark raving mad, shrieking, and you have been afraid to summon your greatest ally for fear you can no longer control it."

"Silence woman. I'll deal with your treachery accordingly," Godo spat, turning his attention once more to Sephiroth. "I ask your terms again."

"Surrender," Sephiroth replied simply. "Complete surrender and confiscation of all your Materia along with the artisans."

The words that fell between them became too soft for Reno and Lyn to make out. Reno wondered what they were saying and how Godo thought he might be able to negotiate but things seemed to be going Sephiroth's way by the set of the Captain's shoulders.

And then Yue Fei moved. He saw her little fist come up and his eyes widened in disbelief.

Sephiroth's refelct spell caught something and sent it arching back towards Yue Fei. Sephiroth turned in slow motion shock, reaching for the horrified little girl. Xíhē was a merciful split second faster, yanking her back with colorless fear. The plume of fire took her arm and boiled the skin on the side of her face. She let out a shriek as Yue Fei was flung to the ground.

All hell broke loose.

Leviathan split the sky with an earth rattling scream. Just as quickly Ifrit responded in kind and swords hissed free as chaos ensued.

"Dammit!" Lyn grated beside him, dropping to her knees. Reno smelled charred flesh and saw the sleeve of her right arm crumble in ash. The beads hissed as they sank into her skin, smoke curling up around them. She trembled, sweat standing out on her face. "I'm fine boy," she growled and Reno realized he had her shoulders. "Its a minimal price." He took took the hilt of her broad sword pulling it free as his baton hummed to life in the other hand, waiting for anyone stupid enough to come their way.

Ifrit, all boiling flame and horns vaulted towards the serpent and they clashed in a titanic fight over the city itself. Meanwhile both sides clashed with belligerent shouts, gouts of magic flaring and more people dropping to the ground screaming.

"I took everything," Reno shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm sure you didn't search the contents of her stomach," Lyn answered as sweat rolled down her temples. "She was ill earlier. She probably swallowed one of the Materia, sneaky creature." She managed a lopsided smile.

"I should have said something," Reno shifted, hyper aware of the fighting not far away.

"Can't plan for everything," she grit with a shudder. "Damn water snake..."

Reno was formulating some answer when he felt some shift in the fight. As if things hadn't already gone wrong enough he saw the charred demon mask and fur in just enough time to raise Lyn's broad sword and deflect Xíhē's attack. She landed before them smoking, one arm entirely gone with a smoldering socket blackened where it should have connected to her shoulder.

She said nothing and advanced, the overwhelming force in her small body barely giving Reno the time he needed to deflect a series of attacks and keep himself between she and Lyn. She let off a frustrated shout, maybe a curse but the burns had stripped one cheek to the bone and made her incomprehensible.

Behind him Lyn tried to get up perhaps in the thought to assist. Reno redoubled his efforts, catching the down stroke of a blow and lashing out with the electrified baton. The Empress jerked with the electricity but managed to throw herself back in just enough time to avoid the broad sword to her collar bone. She vaulted towards Reno again.

He swung and she slid just beneath the blow, some of the fur sheared from her head dress. Reno felt Lyn's arm close around his middle and she twisted, biting off a curse as her muscles spasomed.

"Puhrlfect..." Xíhē garbled planting a foot in Lyn's back. Reno felt the blood seeping into his jacket from a clean cut along Lyn's side. Lyn tried feebly to shake the Empress off them, her braced arms over him trembling. Reno reached up and hooked an arm around her neck, pulling her close and rolling. He felt Xíhē's sword graze his head and open a small cut in his scalp. Springing up towards the unbalanced Empress he dropped his baton, clasped Lyn's broad sword in both hands, and swung like he meant for a grand slam.

Xíhē's head dropped with a solid thud, followed by her mangled body. Reno stood panting over her, shaking for a few seconds in disbelief. He dropped the broad sword and remembered Lyn on the ground. Stripping himself of his jacket he tied it in a makeshift tourniquet around the wound in her side, not as deep as he'd first feared.

"I'll do it," he tried for the beads. Pale and sweaty Lyn stopped him.

"I've got it," she insisted, her hands shaking. "Prop me up though? Can't see worth a damn."

"You'll be okay," he told her.

"'Course I will," she grumped as he helped her sit upright, letting her lean against him. He took the baton nearby again, waiting for anyone else to challenge them. His free hand settled loosely around her shoulders, heart hammering as he prayed the fighting would end soon.

Suddenly it all fell silent. Leviathan vanished and Lyn went lax against him. Her head lolled back against his shoulder as she wheezed painfully, one hand pressed against her injured side, the other shaking as the prayer beads became dull.

Reno wasted no time. He slung her over his shoulders and made for camp, not caring if the battle was actually over or not. The only thing that mattered was saving Lyn.


	42. Wutai Falls

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 42: Wutai Falls

Rude and Mullaney watched in mutual horror as the negotiations fell into ruin. The plume of fire that went up immediately summoned both Leviathan and Ifrit. The titans took to warring as shrieks and battle erupted before them. Mullaney snapped into action as soon as it began, sending her mechanized creatures trotting to battle with the Shin-Ra troops. Rude followed her lead and charged up the prayer beads. He launched a deadly volley of fireballs into the sky, watching them plunge deep into enemy lines at the very edge of his range. The toll was exhausting but he got off another three volleys before he gave it up and joined Mullaney.

They were useless this far back. Both of them paced, each wishing for some task they could manage. It came when the first wave of medics carted back the wounded. They immediately sought solace in assisting, Rude obeying commands for water and pressing bloody gauze over wounds as medics struggled to patch people up. In no time flat his sleeves were dyed red. At some juncture he had removed his jacket and rolled the sleeves back, holding a man down as someone started in with a bone saw to sever a mangled leg and cauterised the stump.

"Seph!" Mullaney gasped beside him. He looked up and spotted the silver hair billowing back as Sephiroth himself came to Ifrit's aid, the serpent coiled around the bristling fire demon. His sword sparked off the scales and thunder split the heavens. There was a brief confrontation before Ifrit was released and back on the offensive. Sephiroth dropped out of view into the turmoil below.

Imperials suddenly spilled through a break in the lines. Rude wasted no time, his hand closing over a standard issue SOLDIER blade and springing to the forefront. Tseng melted out of the chaos shouting orders at the men with him and joined Rude fending off the assailants. Together they managed to repel the assault and close up the lines.

"Get back to Mullaney," Tseng commanded, his hair in disarray and his suit covered in gore patterns. Rude delayed just long enough to immolate a handful of men before falling back.

Time wore on in a blur of dying men and mangled bodies. The only thing he registered was that none were Reno or Lyn, though he closed the eyes of several Turks and SOLDIERs he knew. He broke away only briefly to help route another breech further down the fronts, taking command of a shattered unit and patching the disturbance before leaving the men to their work and helping more medics off the field with the wounded.

At last he looked up when someone grabbed his shoulder with a bloody hand. Above him was Grim, his leg soaked through after tearing the stitches again. He leaned heavily on his sword and Rude's shoulder.

"The Emperor is taken but I am spent. Verdot has matters there in hand but I need you to go with Simmons in search of survivors. The Captain has yet to return and I fear further resistance within the city itself."

"I'll handle it," Rude nodded. Grim handed him his sword before levering himself onto the ground where the medic Rude had unconsciously partnered with took a pair of scissors to the Lieutenant's pant leg. Simmons was standing just a few feet back panting, a cut along his temple back into the hairline streaking the side of his face in red ribbons. He was filthy, a haggard band gathered around him.

Rude didn't feel good himself, the work of the last hours burning into midday leaving his muscles tense and the cut on his back aching. There wasn't time however to be picky. He had working legs and powerful Materia and he was as fresh as reinforcements could get.

They picked over the fields at a swift pace, the bright eyed SOLDIERs loping beside him and met no resistance outside the city. Passing through the shattered gates they entered into the debris of body clogged streets, smoldering timber and ruined buildings making the way treacherous.

Token resistance met them, men not sure if they should continue fighting or surrender. The ones that threw down their weapons were left in peace while the ones that raised arms were cut through with minimal effort even for the depleted unit. Rude searched the wreckage for some sign of Sephiroth.

They broke into two parties to cover more grounds, not quite confident in their numbers but needing the efficiency as Sephiroth's notable absence weighed on them. Rude travelled with Simmons and one other man, the rest sent in a group of eight.

"Last I saw of him he went after a group of Elites Godo had passed Leviathan to," Simmons said angling them towards the central compound. The other men had gone to hunt the periphery, to splinter into smaller segments until they were pairs.

Rude was finally beginning to settle his nerves when Leviathan screamed and filled the sky overhead. The great serpent was wounded, burns and tears in the scales dropping thick gobbets of blood onto the ruined city below. It had appeared in a northwestern corner of the city not far from their location. Rude's small team didn't bother to gawk, just made for it as a small figure with flashing hair soared into the sky to meet the beast alone.

From the one eye Rude kept on the fight he watched Sephiroth both repel the attacks of men below him with the Masamune and assault the great serpent. He'd never seen anything so magnificent and terrible before as the Captain defied gravity, twisting in great leaps and slipping just free of snatching claws and gnashing teeth. He landed and was gone in less than a heartbeat, sliding over the scales and drawing his great sword along them like an artist carving out the contours of a great sculpture.

"Captain!" Simmons shouted in horror as claws interrupted Sephiroth's flight. He careened into another building, shattering its framework. Rude's limbs pumped harder, willing the distance to shorten. Sephiroth emerged from the wreckage towards the screaming maw making for him. Lightning slashed across Leviathan's twisted muzzle giving Sephiroth just the time he needed to sail like an angel of death with his sword at the ready. He cut into Leviahtan's jaw and down along its throat. The serpent hit the ground writhing, splintering blocks worth of buildings. It burst apart in a swell of water that almost bowled over the three making for the Captain.

By the time they slogged their way through a mire of knee deep water Sephiroth was standing in the midst of dismembered Elites. He held in one hand the shimmering red Materia, the Masamune standing equal to his height with one hand braced upon it. He spotted the Turk and two SOLDIERs without seeming to register them as friends, every ounce of him killing intent as he made to spring.

"Captain!" Simmons shouted. Sephiroth blinked. His narrowed eyes and taught face relaxed immediately into its familiar aloofness.

"Simmons. Take this to Verdot," he tossed the volatile Materia. Simmons fumbled to catch it, almost dropping the stone. His face was pale. "Go with him Alton. The Turk and I will make our way back."

"But sir!"

"Its an order," Sephiroth dismissed him shortly, his voice barbed. Simmons manged something of a salute before he and Alton went back the way they'd come. Sephiroth waited until they'd gone before he made his way to a fallen pillar and sat heavily. "Give me...just a moment."

"Are you alright?" Rude asked cautiously, his senses telling him to keep away. The hair on his arms stood on end, the follicles in his scalp trying to bristle.

"There is a buckle. For the shoulder guard," Sephiroth made to gesture and closed his eyes. Rude made himself take the first step forward despite every cell in his body telling him to run the other way. He found the buckle where it had seared to the skin, the charring of a fire attack. "Remove it please," Sephiroth instructed when Rude hesitated. He swallowed and slid a finger beneath the buckle, peeling it back with audible resistance. Undoing it he took the shoulder guard with both hands. Sephiroth let out a shaky breath before fisting his hands on his knees. "Pull it straight out. A piece is driven into my chest and I cannot breathe well."

Rude thought about objecting but instead he pulled. Sephiroth hissed as a piece three inches long slithered out from where it had lodged directly downward, skimming between the inside of his ribs and hopefully missing the organs.

"Don't waste the time. I'm running on enough potions and cure magic it might set off a reaction," Sephiroth stopped him as he prepared a cure spell. "I'll have to make it back to camp to a medic for traditional healing. At least until my system clears."

"We should move then," Rude advised dropping the shoulder guard. Sephiroth stared at it in the muddy water stagnating around them. "That's a serious wound."

"In a moment," Sephiroth nodded still watching the armor.

"Sir, we could have carried you."

"I am a first class SOLDIER and Commander of the Shin-Ra army. No one will _carry_ me from a battlefield," Sephiroth looked up at Rude with an expression that could have melted the skin from his face. Rude held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

It was silent but for the burble of draining water and distant sounds of people. Rude folded his hands and waited, surveying the damages. The war was over. Godo had been captured. It was a total defeat. He should feel happy but Rude couldn't conjure the emotion. In fact he wasn't quite sure what happiness was supposed to feel like. Times he had considered happy seemed to be filmy in his mind, like a grimy photograph with faded colors.

Sephiroth climbed to his feet and sheathed the Masamune painstakingly. Then the pair of them were making for the Shin-Ra siege lines. The water made for treacherous footing, both of them stumbling despite their innate grace. Sephiroth paused just once to brace against a pillar after almost falling, sweat standing out along his unusually pale forehead.

Rude didn't ask for permission. He took Sephiroth's good arm – although that was scored with cuts – and looped it over his shoulder. Sephiroth growled something like a protest except that his body was too close to collapse.

"You can walk when we get close to the lines," Rude promised, his grip tightening around the Captain's wrist. Sephiroth muttered something but he made no further complaints.

When they could hear the commotion of the lines Rude let Sephiroth go. It took thirty seconds for him to balance himself but then they were on their way again.

"Seph! Seph!" Mullaney's voice came over the crashing of her frantic movements through the water. Rude risked a glance at Sephiroth but the Captain's sallow face was hunting for her. "Seph! Seph where are you? You silver headed clod!" Her voice pitched on desperation.

"Mull..." Sephiroth panted. "Mullaney," he managed in a steadier tone. She stood absolutely still somewhere over on their right. "Mullaney," he said a little louder. Her flight was immediate and she scrabbled up over a collapsed building, sliding down broken shingles and splintered wood heedless of the large sizes slivers catching in her bare arms and tearing her pants.

"Seph!" Mullaney gasped without even seeming to notice Rude. He stayed back as she came to a halt almost afraid to touch Sephiroth. Her hands reached and then flinched away, tears filling her eyes as she looked into his strained face. "I saw him...hit you," she whispered. Sephiroth lifted his good hand and cupped her cheek. He bent just enough to kiss her forehead.

"That damn shoulder guard saved me," he replied. She scrubbed tears away from her eyes, smearing grime and blood across her already filthy face.

"Come on then. We'll get you back Seph," she said thickly, her eyes flashing over all the cuts and bruises.

"It's over Mullaney. We won," Sephiroth assured her as he looped an arm around her shoulders and leaned heavily against her. Mullaney gasped in dismay. The Captain gave her a squeeze before standing upright. "I'll be fine."

Rude escorted them invisibly back to the lines as Mullaney hovered in tense silence, her hands longing to be of use as fear made her alabaster complexion ghastly. He saw them to the medics where they fell upon Sephiroth and Mullaney sat in mute shock. Rude left her to it keen on finding Reno.

Instead it was a hollow eyed little girl hugging her knees and trembling in shackles that caught his attention as he searched the bustling camp. She was set beneath a tree and guarded loosely by an enlisted soldier preoccupied with a man screaming incoherently as medics tried to save him.

Yue Fei didn't even look up when Rude stopped before her. She just trembled, all the color sucked from her as her black eyes stared like empty sockets. Sorrow cut through Rude's numbness. He knelt on the ground and laid his hand on her head but she didn't register him even then. Exhausted Rude settled next to her, pulling her catatonic head against his shoulder and stroking her matted hair. They both looked like wraiths from the battlefield. She had been right up front with Xíhē when the blast went off that triggered the battle. He still wasn't sure what had happened, too far away beside Mullaney to get any details.

Rude wondered what the Shin-Ra had gained from this bloody conflict. It had lasted years, the better part of his life. All he could see around him were broken men and women as death feasted on the day's endeavors. And Yue Fei...what would be left of her? What about the children here, the people who didn't have homes anymore, the people left behind after their sons, fathers, brothers, and husbands were killed?

There wasn't really an answer he supposed. The men in charge would get what they wanted as they always did. He found himself removed from the entire problem except for the pieces involving little Yue Fei. She would survive to see tomorrow at least which was as much as he and Reno had ever gotten. She would see another day and maybe next time her fortunes would be better than theirs.

"Here you are," Tseng materialized from the chaos. Rude looked up at his superior, relatively unscathed but for minor cuts and bruises. He glanced at Yue Fei beneath Rude's arm. "We have a few things to handle before you can be sent back to Midgar for your formal induction. Lyn won't be ready for the sea voyage for a week or so at least."

"Why?" Rude asked tensing.

"She's in surgery now. She's lost a lot of blood and the Ifrit left her utterly drained. Reno brought her in just after Leviathan was vanquished the first round."

"Prognosis?"

"My money's on her asking for a cigarette once the anesthesia wears off." Tseng shrugged although he looked uneasy. Rude moved to get up when Yue Fei latched onto him. He looked down into her frightened face. "Bring her. She needs a more attentive guard anyway," Tseng glanced at the distracted blue coat. So Rude scooped her up and let her burrow into his shoulder.

Reno was sitting outside the surgery tent with a pile of cigarette butts at his feet, his hand crushing a pack of Junon Jezebels. He looked up at their approach.

"Anything?" Tseng asked. Reno shrugged mutely. "It may be premature to talk shop but we can't waste this momentum and I have an assignment that might please you." Reno couldn't muster an answer as unease crept into Rude's chest. Yue Fei had melded to his shoulders almost lifeless but for her soft breath against his neck. Tseng shifted and extracted a silver cigarette case, selecting one of its contents and accepting a light Reno offered mechanically. He took a few drags looking between the beleaguered Turks.

"Karasuma has played out his usefulness. He united the five families. Tennouji will make an excellent successor and he's proven quite willing to throw in with the Shin-Ra." Reno and Rude nodded silently. "The order is simple. Execute Karasuma and any retainers that fancy loyalty to him over their lives and hand Tennouji leadership of the Karasuma clan with the promise that you'll be back to correct any misdemeanors."

"Yatsuba Hiromi would be a better choice," Reno shook his head.

"That's unprecedented. The men would never respect her," Tseng objected.

"She wasn't willingly in on the coup. She knew about it but felt she had no power to object. Her brother Tennouji's too easy about his allegiances. Hiromi would be grateful for the chance at vengeance and that's a powerful thing. She's well respected and I've seen her cut men up before. It might take a little longer to stabilize but with Shin-Ra backing we'd have a much stronger ally. Tennouji wouldn't ever betray her. The pair of them were seconds for their father for ages, equal ranking and Tennouji responds well to Hiromi's direction."

"He killed his father."

"But not Hiromi. She provides legitimacy to the house as Karasuma's wife – ex-wife. That's something they need at least as a pretense."

"I think it's a gamble," Tseng hesitated throwing an unreadable glance at Yue Fei.

"Its always a gamble."

Silence fell as Tseng mulled over the alternative proposal. Reno absently ran his thumb along Yue Fei's immobile back.

"Do it," Tseng finally nodded. Reno's smile came full force, his eyes cold and narrow against his angular face. "Let me know when she's out of surgery." Without another word Tseng turned away.

"Neh, princess, you alive?" Reno switched over to Wutain. At the sound of the address Yue Fei peeled her face away from Rude and peered down at the red head. Rude felt her tears drop down his collar.

"Mako-chan..." she whispered trembling. "Mako-chan...I killed her." Reno dropped her gaze and stared at the ground. Something was warring inside of him. "I _burned_ her...I burned mama alive..."

"No you did not," Reno looked up as something froze behind his eyes. He put on a smile bereft of kindness. "She found me on the battlefield. Not a scratch."

"Sh-she did?" Yue Fei hiccupped raising her head. She eeled out of Rude's grip and took Reno's hands. He looked down at the little fingers in his and the ice in his eyes hardened. "She's okay? Did you catch her Mako-chan? Where did they put her?" Yue Fei twisted around as if Xíhē might come out of a nearby tent to welcome her.

"I killed her, Yue Fei."

All the noise seemed to stop. Yue Fei's hope lingered, like she thought he was joking. Reno only held her gaze in absolute sincerity. As realization dawned Yue Fei in her shackles became first pale, and then red. She lashed out with a manacled hand that Reno caught. He pinned her little writhing limbs and leaned close.

"Do not forget. _I_ killed her, Yue Fei."

"I hate you!" she snarled and bit his shoulder. Reno dislodged her with a jerk and handed her to a passing SOLDIER.

"Take her to her father," he instructed in Midgarean.

"I'll never forgive you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Yue Fei howled, kicking and screaming, almost escaping her brawny escort. The SOLDIER knocked her unconscious, tucked her under an arm, and walked away. Reno collapsed still smiling, fishing out another cigarette.

"Is that true?" Rude asked. Reno looked up with hollow eyes.

"Yes, I killed her," he replied. "Yue Fei swallowed Materia before we got to her. She coughed it back up once we'd left her in the tent. At the negotiations she tried to attack Sephiroth but his reflect threw it back. Xíhē managed to save Yue Fei at the cost of her arm and half her face, and then she came for Lyn during the attack. That's why Lyn's in surgery. I didn't even think about it once Lyn was hurt. I just...decapitated that little girl's mom." Mechanically he lifted the cigarette to his mouth and blew out smoke.

"She'll come for you now," Rude sat down stiffly.

"Losin' people you love's hard enough without it bein' partly your fault yo," he glanced at his friend with a soulless smile. Rude could only nod before he tipped his head back against something set on the other side of the tent. After a while he thought Reno might be asleep on his shoulder but he wasn't conscious long enough to check.


	43. Harbingers

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 43: Harbingers

When Rude woke up Reno was still asleep. He looked up at the person fussing to get one of the scratchy blankets that were standard issue over both of them. Mullaney didn't realize he'd opened his eyes, her face still dirty. The sun was getting low as she managed to tuck a corner behind one of Reno's wiry shoulders.

"The Captain?" he inquired making her jump. She pressed a hand against her heart and dropped onto her knees in front of them.

"He'll make it. That shrapnel managed to slide between the ribs and his organs so once his system's cleared up they can use magic for the rest of it. He's up with Verdot somewhere making the Emperor sign official documents the twat."

"Good." Rude nodded decisively.

"How's your shoulder?"

"Fine," he replied despite the lingering ache.

"The doc came out here earlier to tell you about Lyn. He says she's not great but she came through surgery okay. They don't really want her moved but we'll be packing up and carting everything south to Sa Gong at dawn. Seph and I are going back to Midgar to report in directly to the President."

"Good for you."

"Its not like that," Mullaney shook her head, hands tangled together over her knees. Rude lifted his corner of the blanket despite the protests in his muscular system. Mullaney hesitated a few seconds before crawling over so she could sit with her shoulder pressed against his. "Uncle's reassigning me to work with Scarlet in the weapons division. They're interested in some of my inventions. All my research on Materia's being turned over to Hojo. As to Seph who knows where he'll wind up. I don't have that kind of clearance."

"You?" Reno gave her a crooked smile. She socked his shoulder.

"No I don't, unfortunately."

"Probably won't hurt you after this," he looked in the direction of the siege lines. She brought her knees up to her chest and pushed stray bangs back from her forehead.

"Think it'll last? Peace?"

"Who knows?" Rude shrugged.

"Thanks for looking after Seph out there. He's invincible, but I like that someone's got his back." Mullaney's voice was soft. Rude shrugged again. "Where are you and the boy clone going?"

"We don't have that kind of clearance," he smiled. Mullaney made a face at him. "The Plates for induction. Anyone's guess after that."

"Well, I'll be in Weapons Development. You should swing by when you can. I could use a reason to get out of the shop."

"Need guinea pigs?"

"Have you used your watches? Do they work?"

"Forgot all about it," he pulled his hand up to look at the besmirched piece of equipment Mullaney had given him. "Keeps time," he showed her the display.

"It'll have to be a social call I guess. You're not a dependable guinea pig." Mullaney rolled her eyes.

"We should go. Business in Sa Gong." Rude shifted into a better position to shake Reno. Mullaney curled a hand around his arm and pressed a chaste kiss against his cheek.

"Thank you," she gave him a smile. "All this war ever did was bring me closer to Seph and bring me you. I'll miss you, tan guy."

"Stay that close and you won't," Rude gave her a reckless grin. Her smile got wider as she stood up. He watched her walk away, pausing just once to look back at him and raise her hand. Rude gave her a nod. The camp swallowed her and she was gone.

"Stud," Reno mumbled against his side, grinding sleep out of one eye. Rude pushed the red head off of him and climbed to his feet. Reno hauled himself up blinking into the late afternoon sun.

They poked their heads into the surgery tent. A medic there immediately gave them directions over the intestines of the man upon which he was operating. It was just a quick jaunt to find Lyn's bed, an IV drip connected to her arm. She was white as her sheets and she barely breathed. Rude half expected her eyes to open when they approached but she remained perfectly still. Reno laid a callused hand on her forehead, his lips in a tight line as he stared down at her. Rude spotted her broad sword leaning near the bed. He took it and placed the sheathed weapon beside her within easy reach. Somehow it felt right.

"Sa Gong?" Reno prompted. Rude gave him a nod as a murderous smile sharpened Reno's features.

"We should let Tseng know."

Tseng was in a tent bristling with all able bodied Turks. He was handing out assignments mostly in the form of bringing news to various battle fronts and instructions for how the cities should be locked down and organized. He passed out proclamations with the Emperor's seal like they were candy, tapping various cities to indicate destinations to each pair of Turks. He looked up at their approach and silenced the Turk in question by simply raising his hand.

"How's Lyn?" was his first question and a hush fell over the tent.

"Made it through surgery. She'll wake up soon yo," Reno shrugged. Tseng nodded before extracting a black envelope half an inch thick with documents.

"These are for the head of the Karasuma family. They detail the agreement _we_ have drafted for them. Give Hiromi a day to read through it. She must sign the agreement and we'll meet in Sa Gong. It'll be what you hand over to the President. If she refuses the terms, execute her and move on to Tennouji. Its not negotiable."

"I don't envy you the time it took to draft this yo," Reno whistled weighing it in his hands.

"Particularly since I don't imagine you can spell 'Reno' in Hirigana," Tseng shot at him with a wry smile.

"They don't have 'r' sounds," he protested.

"Rude's managed in _kanji_," Tseng teased.

"Brown noser," Reno shot Rude a dark look.

"I have work to do," Tseng waved them off.

The pair of them took their leave, Rude carrying the precious documents lest Reno crinkle them. They selected a set of bikes and departed without so much as a backwards glance at the camp.

For the first time in Wutai they traversed the winding dirt roads through fields, canyons, and frightened villages without the sense that their lives were in immediate danger. The moon cast things in blue silver beyond their headlights, the wind chill against their skin. Apart from collecting a rucksack containing a carton of Sol Sunbursts, an extra set of Turk Blues for each of them, some rations and a handful of possessions they hadn't thought to bring coats. Their Turk jackets weren't much against the wind while travelling at speed.

Sa Gong's Da Chao met them over the broken city. Half of it had burned in the sacrificial attack to lure the Empress from the side of her husband. It took the better part of the morning to negotiate tangled streets on the way to the Yatsuba estate.

So it was they pulled up about lunch time to the familiar gates. Reno pushed his old goggles back onto his forehead. He took the time to light a cigarette as one of the guards stationed there went to inform the Family of their arrival. Rude strode alongside him, the familiar smoke curling around Reno as they made their way inside without direction to the main hall where Karasuma would be waiting.

"An eventful week," Karasmua announced lounging amidst all his Yakuza. Hirono sat demurely an arm's length away. She looked up at them and away before doubling back with narrowed eyes. Reno gave her a savage smile, hands in his pockets as he slouched with the cigarette between his teeth. Hiromi folded her hands and shifted slightly.

Before anyone had reacted Rude was standing over Karasuma's body, the neck snapped at a funny angle and lifeless. There was a shocked silence as he knelt beside an awe struck Hiromi and offered her the black envelope in both hands the way a retainer offered things to his master.

"For your consideration, Karasuma-sama," he said so the room could hear.

"Take another step and I will light you up," Reno said as all six of the Materia glowed around the bangle he exposed. "This whole place will go and I will not be sorry to see you in Hell, yo. This is the agreement the Shin-Ra propose to the Karasuma house led by Yatsuba Hiromi and her brother Yatsuba Tennouji. Refuse it and your death will be as swift as the one for Karasuma Masao. Take your time OJ."

"Traitor!" someone shouted as a pale faced Hiromi reached for the document Rude offered. Her hand froze and she looked at one of the young men grasping the hilt of his sword. She retracted her hand and pulled the obi free from around her middle. Shedding the outer jackets of her kimono she stood up in the semi translucent undergarment, taking up the lacquered sword from Karasuma's immobile side.

"Leno-san, please mind the door," Hiromi instructed, drawing the blade with a hiss. The retainer snarled and came forward.

"Whore," he jeered. The room stirred. Tennouji, who had regained something of his composure, rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Hiromi dropped the scabbard with a hollow thunk and grasped the killing blade with both hands, setting her feet just the way a samurai might. Rude remained kneeling with the document in both hands patiently.

The young man fidgeted scouring his unusual opponent. Hiromi's skills were disputed with a sword, her performance hot and cold in the past. Today she stood with absolute poise. She waited patiently. He sprang forward. With the barest movements Hiromi slid beneath the attack as her sword slipped through his torso. He collapsed gurgling, his blood seeping into the polished floor.

"Now then," Hiromi announced as she extended her hand for a cloth. She surveyed the room with utter calmness. "Allow me to settle this matter before anyone else volunteers to remove himself from the Family." Tennouji sauntered towards her and offered her a kerchief, a smile playing across his features.

"Whether you feel I conspired to reach this position or that I am unfit to assume the duties as the Karasuma family head, let me assure you that I am now in charge. How it came about is not your concern. What _is_ your concern is the decision to either follow me or meet execution. You have pledged loyalty to the Karasuma house. Well _I_ am the Karasuma House now. Let me make it perfectly clear that your life is forfeit the moment you disagree. If you so much as whisper words against me I will find you in whatever crevice you see fit to hide in and I will kill you as easily as I dispatched this dog. You cast your lots with Masao and drew my straw instead. Speak your objections now if you think I make my claim lightly."

"Tennouji you coward! Ruling through your sister!" another man accused after several seconds of silence.

"If you fancy her a figurehead then try your luck," Tennouji smiled, gesturing at Hiromi.

"And so we are slaves to the Shin-Ra?" demanded an older man.

"I have a proclamation from the Emperor himself," Reno extracted one of the sealed documents. "The war is over yo. The Shin-Ra have all their attention to give to the unified yakuza house of Karasuma. Ojou-sama?"

Tennouji walked the distance between Hiromi and Reno. He collected the scroll and brought it to his sister. She observed the seal before breaking it. Skimming the document she unfurled it to display the stamp at the bottom and Godo's signature beside Sephiroth and Verdot's. She handed it to her brother who took it to the grey faced yakuza gathered in the room. She withdrew to her original place, stepping over Karasuma with a distasteful look and accepting the document from Rude.

"Strange tidings indeed," she remarked, opening the black envelope and extracting the document written in beautiful calligraphy. "Someone clean up the mess." Men scurried to obey.

It took two hours for her to read through it in its entirety. Rude sat patiently next to her as Reno shifted his weight, sometimes pacing and smoked four cigarettes. The other men stood grimly in attendance. Rude could pick out those that would give Hiromi trouble. Tennouji was not a part of that number. Instead he sipped sake brought to him by a serving girl periodically and seemed to take stock like Rude. At last Hiromi turned over the final page. She called for ink and a brush.

"Here it is then," she said after signing in her delicate script. "Generous pieces of the reactors and more stakes in the shipping lines than ever we controlled before. Our taxes will be timely and our duties exacted. I should say our income will rival what the Emperor made last year with reconstruction to consider. Give me that year and you men will be rich. Perhaps you'll have better resources with which to challenge me." She smiled around the room serenely. "Tennouji, send word to the other families and select men to send to President Shin-Ra himself to accept rewards for services rendered in the war."

"Yes ma'am," he nodded.

"The rest of you find something useful. I want the house polished so we might invite some of the surviving politicians to dinner to negotiate our fee for reconstruction supplies and our control over Sa Gong's granaries. Someone prepare a menu. I'll check it once I've seen our guests to their rooms."

She rose gracefully with Rude, taking his arm. He escorted her to Reno whose arm she also took and the three of them made their way down the halls. They had to catch her once they'd passed out of sight and her knees gave. Escorting her into a nearby room she sat in a trembling heap looking up at them.

"I was so sure you'd come to kill us all."

"I thought about it," Reno answered. "You are worth more alive, OJ. We can stay and send some SOLDIERs until your place is secure."

"No need," she shook her head. "You've killed my father's murderer and given power to my brother and I. The rest has to be done by us. I can handle the ones who assume my ineptitude."

"Maybe you should tell them the deal is null if they kill you," Reno advised.

"If I'm not up to the task then I'll laugh in Hell when they tear out their hair in regret," she smiled. "Why me? Why not Tennouji?"

"You are more loyal," Reno shrugged making her laugh bitterly.

"All the loyalty in the world couldn't save my father. What happened to Bai Yan? Did you kill him?"

"Handled," Rude assured her. She scrutinized them.

"How...can I thank you?"

Neither of them had expected that. They both took a turn examining her. Reno seemed to have some choice thought that came through in his expression as Hiromi went pink.

"Find Sumire. She has a scar like a plum flower," Rude answered instead tapping his forehead. "We leave for Midgar in five days."

"I'll do my best," Hiromi nodded. She accepted his hand up. "I would have you stay but things will get messy. Its my job to take care of them from here."

She walked between them in silent relief, escorting them back to the gate. From there she waved as they revved up their bikes and peeled out of the gates. Neither of them looked back. Rude wondered if she'd survive the night only to find he didn't particularly care. Their dealings with the Yakuza as 'friends' were done.

_Its not much in the way of vengeance, but its all I could manage for now Kaede._

They agreed to wait to eat until they brought their tidings to the skeletal army lingering in Sa Gong. Despite the exhaustion of their long journey and the dealings at the Yatsuba house they dragged themselves in front of Hammond lying hapless against his electronics with hollow eyes.

"Hey Ham," Reno sighed grinding the sleep out of his eyes. Hammond looked up because duty demanded he did. He offered a lack luster salute. "War's over."

"Oh good," Hammond answered without even the slightest degree of elation. He hunted aimlessly for the microphone so he might broadcast the news.

"Ham," Reno interrupted him. Hammond looked at the Turk, waiting patiently for more orders. "Grim'll be here in a few days. He was our ace in the hole yo."

It took three seconds for Hammond to process. He collapsed against his station sobbing for joy, his slim frame wracked with relief. Rude smiled. Reno rolled his eyes before stalking to the equipment. He took Hammond's rolling chair and wheeled him out of the way before flipping the switch to activate the PA system.

"This is Reno of the Turks! I just came straight from the fronts! War's over pricks! We won!"


	44. Home

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Chapter 44: Home

Reno looked up from his game of cards at the sound of approaching feet. Rude was the only other Turk present apart from a handful of recovering men still imprisoned with the medics so his table was comprised of Fenrirs and one SOLDIER who'd lost his arm during Xíhē's attack. They were playing for cigarettes and snacks from Midgar. Reno had more than enough cigarettes to gamble seeing as he and Rude were on the first flight out of Wutai with Lyn. Not that losing cigarettes was his problem. He was exceptionally good at counting cards, something his long dead brother Jay had taught him.

A clean cut enlisted man with a patch over one eye knocked three times before entering. The table turned towards his entrance. He shifted slightly beneath such intense scrutiny.

"The Captain's convoy is here," he announced. "Just passed the checkpoints at the edge of the city."

"Time to count the chips I guess," Reno swept his winnings into a rucksack over the grumbling at the table. He swung up and passed the enlisted blue coat, making for the main hall where Rude had spent the last week recovering from his injuries and assisting Hammond with the camp affairs. The mundane work filled the otherwise empty hours, only the occasional note from Hiromi giving them something to focus on. It was only idle status reports as the agreement had stipulated.

Rude was on the second rolling chair that had been scrounged when he began assisting Hammond. He was leafing through reports as Hammond argued with equipment. Reno rolled his eyes before jerking one of the circuitry panels open and stripping a few wires before twining them together again.

"Lucky thing the war's over. This thing's about had it yo," Reno remarked, closing the panel again.

"Thanks," Hammond climbed out from under the table. "I've worked this station for six years and I still haven't mastered these blasted electronics."

"They'll send something new now the war's over and it won't get blown up," Reno assured him. Hammond just shrugged, his eyes flicking towards the door. "I bet I could keep this thing alive for a couple of hours Ham."

Hammond hesitated a few seconds before he bolted. He skid to a halt at the entrance and turned around grinning. "Thanks!" he waved and was gone. Reno shrugged as he sat down next to Rude.

"How's the back?" Reno asked as Rude closed the files.

"Better," he demonstrated by lifting his arm and twisting. Reno nodded as he rummaged through his winnings before handing over a chocolate candy bar with bits of bacon. Rude stared at it in disbelief.

"I didn't believe it either," Reno grinned. Rude tore the candy open and crunched through the first square. He sighed with a distant smile making Reno laugh.

Most of Hammond's job consisted of organizing communications like an elevated switch board operator. Reno didn't mind the work since it gave them something to do outside twiddling their thumbs or waiting for something big to happen in the city. The commanding officers had handled much of what was happening in the city, managing the reconstructing and attending meetings with the Yakuza. Reno didn't particularly mind not having anything to do. After two years scrambling through Hell he was okay playing cards and waiting to go back to Midgar.

Reno looked up from attempting something of a lasting repair on the machinery when he heard footsteps wading through the hubbub outside. Verdot and Sephiroth were approaching with Tseng in tow.

"Yatsuba Hiromi's agreement," Rude stood up passing the black envelope directly to Tseng. Tseng opened it and skimmed the signature along the bottom. "This is Sa Gong's present standing," he handed Verdot and Sephiroth each a folder.

"I'll add it to my list of things to report," Sephiroth almost sighed handing it to an aide following in their wake. "Grim will be taking charge under Verdot. Transport leaves in two hours. Both of you will be on it as I understand."

"Where's Lyn?" Reno asked looking for her to be leaning in the doorway.

"Resting," Verdot replied as he approached the desk. He took up a headset and adjusted machines to get a particular frequency. "The pair of you are dismissed. You'll have to collect your things and get Lyn set for transport. I have reports to file with the President anyway."

"Come with me," Tseng motioned them after him without looking up from his paperwork. Reno and Rude asked no questions as Verdot assumed one of the vacated seats.

"Reno, Rude," Sephiroth halted them as they passed. He held out one hand. Rude took it first and shook. Reno took his turn and then Sephiroth looked between them. "Wutai was the warm up. Look after each other."

"Gone soft have ya?" Reno asked with a smirk.

"You'll have to watch both of you," Sephiroth almost smiled at Rude.

"Look after Mullaney," Rude gave him a nod with half a smirk. Sephiroth offered no comment but walked further into the building. Reno and Rude fell in behind Tseng who had paused by the door, still engrossed in his reading.

"You two are remarkable," Tseng shook his head, closing the document. "Acknowledgement from Sephiroth himself."

"So what's up on the docket boss?" Reno asked.

"You've got paperwork to transport there and I have a specific assignment for you once you've gone through indoc," Tseng replied as he brought them to the ruined annex building Tseng and Verdot had used as their offices.

"No rest for the wicked," Reno chuckled.

"Indoc takes about six weeks. Most of it will be catching you up on Shin-Ra dealings and current operations, everything that A-class clearance will get you. You'll meet department heads, our support network within the Shin-Ra, and you'll have to set up lives on the Plates. That is assuming you prefer your own space and don't care for barracks housing."

Reno and Rude shot each other looks with raised eyebrows. Neither of them had considered anything different from their barracks. Rude spent most of his money on Beatrice's treatments and stored the rest of it in a Shin-Ra account. Reno stored money hand over fist, completely out of his depth when it came to possessing things. Living on the fronts all he needed were cigarettes – which he generally won by the carton playing cards – and the occasional drink. Even after spending serious change on helping Kaede get set up his account was in the black at numbers beyond his imagination coming from the slums.

"After indoc?" Rude prompted.

"Your job is to scout potential candidates for SOLDIER," Tseng rooted through his desk and handed over a disk. "Don't break this. This will grant you access to intel gathered in our absence. You'll have to make up for lost time. Hojo and his lab rats have limited resources to act on it all."

"That's kid stuff," Reno made a face.

"Its only half the game. The rest is to establish...diplomatic connections in the various cities you'll be visiting. Since you worked so brilliantly with the Yakuza it was agreed that the two of you were the best suited to this task."

"I don't wanna hold onto it," Reno backed away with his hands up. Rude accepted it instead and tucked it into the breast pocket of his coat.

"Anything else?" Rude prompted.

"For now get through indoc. You'll report in to me once indoc is complete and give me an outline of your plans for a prioritized recruitment and what organizations or individuals may be interested in some dealings with the Shin-Ra."

"Sounds fun," Reno smiled.

"I don't think I need to remind you but these people would betray us in a heartbeat. Remember that," Tseng warned them with a touch of concern.

"Lesson learned," Reno assured him with a wry smile. "What are you up to the next few weeks?"

"Will you miss me then?" Tseng shot him a crooked smile.

"Not with this stud around," he knocked Rude's arm affectionately. Tseng shook his head as he closed up his desk and came around so he could lean against the front side.

"Verdot and I will watch things around here, establish the lines of governing, and leave some operatives in Grim's service once everything stabilizes. Verdot should be along partly through your indoc. My assignment will keep me here a while longer, between six to eight months."

"We'll send some care packages yo," Reno promised.

"If that's your intent a bottle of mead from Midgar may just put you into my good graces," Tseng advised with half a smile. "Hard thing to come by here in Wutai."

"I had no idea you drank."

"I'm not certain you think I'm human Reno," Tseng teased and Reno snickered.

"We'll see if you change my mind yo."

"I have a feeling there'll be many years for you to formulate your decision."

"Well, ain't none of us fit for anything but the Turks," Reno nodded. Tseng seemed to sober at the statement as the red head offered his alley cat smile. "Anything else boss?"

"Make me proud," Tseng shrugged.

"Good luck," Rude stuck his hand out. Tseng looked surprised as he stood up to shake. The pair of them left their boss' office to emerge into the encroaching afternoon. Rude glanced at his watch.

"Just over an hour before transport," he informed Reno.

"Ain't got nothin' else to pack," Reno held up his rucksack.

"Lyn might have something," Rude answered, angling them towards the building the medics had claimed. They only had to ask at the front desk for Lyn and watch the nurse staff there look at each other irritably. As one they pointed the boys down one corridor.

"We are through here!" Lyn shouted, stumbling into the hallway where she braced herself against a window across from her door. She was still pale and sweating, a bead of blood forming where she'd removed her IV. One hand was curled around her broad sword. "No! One more person puts out my cig and I'll snuff 'em!" she brandished a finger threateningly at four nurses wondering how best to handle her.

"Hey toots," Reno grinned as he stuck a Junon Jezebel between his lips and lit it for her. He offered it as the nurses made the attempt to melt him with their glares. "How ya feelin'?"

"Ah Red, Rude," she smiled in relief sucking on the cigarette like she hadn't been able to breathe without one.

"There's no smoking in here," the bravest of the nurses said. Lyn growled before she struggled with the window. Rude leaned forward and hoisted it open for her. She shot him a surly look before clambering outside. Reno and Rude climbed after her as she moved as quickly away as she could. She didn't stop until she could sit on some wreckage, her shirt soaked in sweat as she puffed meditatively on the Jezebel.

"You well enough for an escape?" Reno asked settling on the ground so he could lean on the fallen timbers Lyn had claimed as a perch.

"There is no way they're keepin' me in that white washed hell where pretty little girls and crusty old men tell me I can't smoke and I've gotta eat meat boiled into mush! Hell no!" she vented, shivering. Rude silently laid his coat around her shoulders to cover the damp hospital shift. Lyn stubbed out her cigarette and cleaned the sheen of sweat from her brow with the bandages on her right arm. "How long 'till we go?"

"About an hour," Rude surmised. Her fingers curled around her knee caps, flexing and relaxing as her eyes narrowed.

"Need anything packed?" Reno prompted.

"No. That was my last uniform and that, that _monster_ threw out my _carton_ of Jezebels." Her tone was equal parts acid and despair. Reno reached for the pack in his satchel when Rude extracted a carton of Junon Jezebel's from his shoulder bag. Lyn looked up at him with reverence.

"Thought about flowers but figured you'd like these better," Rude said with a crooked smile as she hugged them to her chest.

"Not as smooth as the stud," Reno grumbled, tossing the single pack into her lap.

"Thank you," she beamed, the smile seeming to revive her. She ruffled Reno's hair affectionately and managed what might have been intended a punch but wound up a pat on Rude's hip. Rude sat down as Reno lit another smoke for her. "Ah, life is good. Verdot was sayin' the war's over."

"Yeah, finished it so they say. Good time for indoc," Reno agreed.

They briefed her about the Karasuma house and appreciated her grim amusement at the events.

"Told you it'd be sooner rather than later," she shifted with a grimace, her hand sliding unconsciously to her side.

"Will you be okay for travel?" Rude asked.

"Got my cigs, a jacket, and my pair of aces. Everything'll be just fine," she nodded. Hugging her smokes with her uninjured arm Lyn managed up onto her feet. "Lets not miss our flight. I'm hungry for the Plates." Rude offered her his arm and she turned to look at him with an expression that could curdle milk.

"Do I look like a damsel in distress?" she demanded, drawing herself upright with both hands on her hips.

"You can't have all the cool moments," Reno objected, shouldering Rude out of the way so he could offer his arm. Lyn tried to stifle a smile as she left them both behind on the way to the launch pad where a handful of choppers were waiting to carry away the first group of men and women to be welcomed home from the wars.

"Leno! Lude!" called a distinctly Wutain accent. The pair of them turned just as they were reaching the makeshift landing pads. Reno's eyebrows jumped up as he spotted Hiromi herself hustling along with a little girl in tow. Immediately he recognized Sumire, Kaede's little serving girl, despite her bewildered expression and ragged appearance. "Oh thank goodness! They said you were about to leave!" Hiromi doubled over panting.

"Hiromi. Congrats on your promotion," Lyn smiled. She'd threaded her arms through Rude's oversize sleeves and stuffed her hands into the pockets.

"Yes, thank you," she bowed perfunctorily before pushing Sumire forward. "She's been hiding in some ruins. I'm so sorry it took so long."

"You..." Sumire looked up at the pair of them in awe. Rude turned to Lyn and opened his jacket. Lyn watched curiously as he extracted the plum flower hair pin from one of the breast pockets. The giant Milano squatted and offered the precious bit of iron. Sumire's eyes widened and then welled with tears. She grasped the trinket and pressed it over her heart.

"Thank you. Oh thank you!" she wept. "Thank you so much!" Rude laid a hand on her head and she practically vaulted into his arms.

"I'll take her to my house and give her work. She'll be taken care of," Hiromi promised. Reno smiled and shook his head.

"No OJ. I think this one will come with us," Reno smiled as Rude hugged Sumire back.

"Coupla softies," Lyn smirked without her usual venom. Reno was surprised at the softness of her expression when she shook her head. She turned towards the helicopter and poked her head inside, barking some question at the pilot.

"Who is she Leno?" Hiromi inquired.

"Whatever is left of Kaede," Reno shrugged.

"Will you two be back?"

"Not for a while OJ. Thank you for finding Sumire."

"There's space," Lyn's harsh Midgarean cut through the Wutain conversation. "If that's what you boys want. But we gotta move."

"Ciao, OJ," Reno waved.

"Sumire, you can come with us to Midgar," Rude pried her from his shoulder.

"To work?" she sniffled.

"I have a sister who is your age. She was hurt a few years ago and is different. I need someone to help look after her while I work. Or you can go and live with Hiromi-sama and work for her family."

"I'll...I can go with you?"

"If you want."

The only thing she did was settle into his chest like children tended to do and Rude carried her away without a backwards glance. Reno shot Hiromi a smile and she watched them depart with a forlorn expression. He watched Lyn climb inside and settle into a seat, pulling the headphones over her ears. Rude was fixing Sumire's seatbelt. The little girl curled her hand around Rude's, looking up at him with hope and reverence.

Reno stopped Lyn's struggle with her seat harness by buckling it himself despite her grumbling objections. He had just managed to strap himself in when the helicopter took off with a lurch that turned Sumire green and made Lyn clutch at the arms of her seat. They climbed up and away from the ground, broken Sa Gong retreating below them.

He watched the curled roofs and latticed paper doors fade out of focus, the ocean spreading beneath them as they flew towards long forgotten Midgar. For a strange moment Reno felt like he was leaving home. Perhaps because there was no one waiting for him in Midgar, not in the slums or on the plates.

Reno almost jumped when Lyn's head struck his shoulder. He reached instinctively for a pulse and found she was just asleep. It took a few minutes to relax. Rude arched his eyebrows with an amused grin. Reno shrugged the shoulder Lyn wasn't sleeping on. His old friend almost laughed, indicating a radio frequency the two of them could use without disturbing Lyn.

"We must be mad," Rude reflected. "Our spoils of war are a frightened little girl and Lyn."

"We play into her hands every damn time," Reno agreed as he shot Lyn a sour look. "It probably only gets worse from here yo."

"True but...what would we have done without her?" Rude asked soberly. Reno grinned ironically. "The FIU would have killed me and you'd probably be in jail for murdering Dane. That or Corneo would have us both."

"Don't wake her up with that kind of praise," Reno admonished. They just smiled at each other before hunkering down for sleep. As his consciousness faded Reno realized it wasn't so much the plates that were home, it was Rude, Lyn, and by extension Tseng and Verdot that would make the Plates home. Defying all logic it was the loathed Shin-Ra that had given him access to any sort of life at all.

_Hey Jay, Cassie, think you'll forgive me?_ He wondered. Probably not. But they were gone and all he could do was take the board Lyn set for he and Rude in the attempt to build a life from the scrap metal of his broken childhood. And he'd do whatever he had to do to protect it with a smile on his face.

* * *

**A/N: **Epilogue to follow.


	45. Epilogue 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Epilogue 1: Lives Built and Broken

Reno woke up smelling breakfast. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes and glanced at a clock reading 9 a.m. That was later than he'd slept in two months and it pleased him. He pulled on pajama bottoms thrown over a chair, lit the day's first cigarette, and stalked into the living room and open kitchen of his high rise apartment. It wasn't extravagant or in the best part of town but he was home so infrequently it hardly mattered.

Rukia was finishing biscuits, sausage gravy and eggs with cheese. She was wearing the other half of his pajamas. Her perfectly straight hair was pulled back in a functional pony tail he thought made her look just perfect, the creamy expanse of her legs tantalizing. She was a long way changed from the girl with buns he'd encountered down on Wall Street as a boy, or the young woman trembling as she finally came of age for bidding. It was the first thing he'd done when he got free time after returning from the Wutai war. He marched straight down to Wall Street, found the geisha house, and out priced every man there. The price he paid was unheard of. Not only did it pay back Rukia's contract, it was enough for a license up here on the Plates.

After an initial struggle she'd found her place working as a translator for a branch of the Shin-Ra. Reno hadn't lifted a finger to help her after following through on his promise to pay through the nose for her when he was a grown. It made him proud to watch her take the opportunity and run with it. There was the added perk of a friend up on these desolate Plates full of plastic people. They weren't exclusive lovers. There was never time for that between their comings and goings. But they were companions when scheduling allowed.

"Morning," she smiled radiantly, sliding him an ash tray and a cup of tea.

"Morning. You leave tonight or tomorrow?"

"Tonight sadly," she made a face. "But I'll be back in a few weeks. Who knows when you'll be free again though," she added with another face. Reno just smiled. "Man of mystery. Are you ever going to tell me about it?"

"You lack the clearance toots," he shook his head.

They ate, showered, romped because she started it, showered again, and he walked her down to the lobby for a cab. On the way back upstairs he collected his mail and sifted it in the elevator. Bills, bills, advertising, propaganda, more bills, and then the letter he always anticipated. He waited until he'd gotten back inside his apartment to tear it open.

Hammond was writing from Costa del Sol again. About four years ago Grim had retired and taken Hammond with him to live out their days lounging on beaches and travelling when the whim struck them. For some reason Hammond had attached some import to Reno and had taken to writing him ever since his retirement. And in return Reno not only anticipated the monthly letters, he replied sporadically with a few lines on a postcard from wherever his business happened to take him.

After reading the letter twice Reno put it away in the drawer where he stashed all of them meticulously. He changed into cargo pants, a t-shirt with a baboon caricature and tennis shoes before descending into the garage. He kept a bike for the few times he actually needed transportation, a huge chopper he'd taken the time to build himself between assignments to keep from boredom. It roared to life and he pulled his goggles on properly before sliding into traffic enjoying the road.

Rude lived in a much nicer part of town. He'd selected that building for the school district – a typical Rude decision Reno had laughed at the time. Pulling into guest parking Reno killed the engine and sauntered into the lobby. He had a key to get in and was listed as a regular guest, most of the reception staff familiar with him and over half the night crew notches on his bed post. Rude had rolled his eyes and said it as a typical Reno decision.

Floor seventeen, down the hall to the right. Apartment 1732. Reno knocked. He had keys but they weren't much good against the dead locks installed on the other side. Feet scurried to the door before someone squealed on the other side. The locks were clawed back as Reno tried not to grin too wide.

Beatrice threw the door open and latched onto his shoulders. With her long braids and bright eyes she was pretty, her figure slim and feminine with skin the color of coffee and cream. Reno lifted her up in a return hug. He set her bare toes back on the carpet and she jerked him in.

"D-D-D-D-Darryl!" she stammered in her excitement. She seemed to flounder with her words, not an unsual thing for her, so she dragged Reno into the kitchen where Rude was drying his hands on a dish towel. Dressed in an immaculately pressed black button down and jeans he still managed to look sophisticated. "Here-here!"

"Slow down. He won't disappear," Rude dropped a kiss on his sister's forehead. Beatrice attached herself to Reno's side with an adoring sigh.

"A man needs a woman to fawn over him," Reno gave her shoulder a squeeze. She giggled. "Game for the park toots?"

"Frisen-bee! F-f-frisbee!" she nodded eagerly before bounding away.

"Beatrice! Slow down!" Rude cautioned a split second before she crashed into the wall. Beatrice got up without complaint before staggering away in search of her frisbee as the men wondered whether they should help her or not. She was hell bent on managing things on her own. Her mind still functioned like a person's, it was just hampered by poor coordination and speech impediments. That and the occasional lapse into a catatonic daze that could last for hours.

"It must be pheromones," Rude shook his head while Reno plucked at his shirt as if to fan them after Beatrice. He received a black scowl for his efforts.

"Newest one?" Reno snatched up an envelope addressed to one "tan guy". Rude nodded as Reno extracted the photographs of a dig site and the beautiful woodlands surrounding it. He sifted through them thinking it was about time Mullaney just came out and said she loved Rude. Sephiroth's defection years ago had driven her to the point of breaking. She'd left her uncle's company in pursuit of Ancients, something Sephiroth had been babbling about in his madness. In that time frame she wrote Rude constantly, sending photographs she took almost compulsively of the things around her. They were beautiful and frequently solemn.

Sephiroth's defection was an earth shaking thing. Reno had listened to the briefing with Rude, Tseng, and Lyn with a shared expression of disbelief. Even Lyn had demanded to know who was responsible for this ludicrous joke so he might be punished accordingly. Of course it was just one thing in a list of terrible happenings, the icing on the cake after a fiasco that had turned most of the Shin-Ra against the Turks and forced Verdot into exile, the strange events surrounding 1st Class SOLDIERs Angeal and Genesis, confusing occurences with one Zack Fair and some enlisted kid by the name of Cloud Strife.

Hell, the Turks were down to a skeleton crew consisting of Reno and Rude, Tseng, a rookie named Elena that Reno still hadn't fully judged, and Lyn as some amorphous shadow operative. Not that amorphous and shadowy hadn't always been in her job description, but she was even less mentioned than ever before. Tseng hardly dared to utter her name in front of the President who found her distasteful on a good day.

Mullaney's photography was as brilliant as it always had been. She wrote a lengthy letter detailing what she'd found in the dirt and speculating on its possible meaning. She asked about Beatrice and Sumire and even Reno.

"You should go sweep her off her feet. I'll watch the kids," Reno said when he put the envelope down and perched his chin on his hands. Rude shook his head.

"If that's what she wants she'll get this out of her system first," Rude shrugged, selecting the best picture and putting it on the fridge cluttered in Mullaney's photography and Beatrice's paintings.

"Where's Sumire?" Reno looked around as Beatrice latched onto his side again with the frisbee.

"Muller, Muller snap snap," Beatrice tried to piece words together, sifting through the photos to point out her favorites.

"Sale in Little Wutai. She wanted some of the veggies," Rude motioned vaguely at their clean counters where Sumire spent quite a bit of time cooking and running the household as she saw fit. At twenty she was elegant and beautiful, her quick smile usually accompanied with ready wit.

"Su-Su big h-h-heart. Likin' likin'," Beatrice struggled to tell Reno something. Her face flushed red with irritation. She untangled herself from Reno and went hunting for something.

"She'll find her words," Rude smiled when Reno looked to him for the short answer. In a moment Beatrice returned with a pad of paper. "New thing she and Sumrie are trying," Rude half explained. Beatrice's eyes flicked between them before she quickly began to sketch out a rough portrait.

"Heard through the grapevine you're gonna be an uncle for the fifth time," Reno remarked as he watched Beatrice's surprisingly steady hand.

"Good dowries find your sisters good husbands," Rude shrugged.

"Su-Su big hearts!" Beatrice pushed the portrait towards Reno with a huge grin.

"Naw! Tseng?" Reno gasped at their boss' quick portrait. Rude couldn't help the smile.

"He's been by a hundred times. Last time he must have changed his cologne or something," Rude tried to suppress his amusement just as Sumire knocked. Beatrice sprang for the bolts and pulled them all open.

Sumire entered the room with Beatrice claiming a bag of vegetables to rush to the counter. She was dressed in a saffron summer dress with her hair plaited in a simple braid, a straw hat on her head with a big blue bow. The plum flower scar was still on her forehead though she made no effort to hide it any longer. Her face immediately brightened at the sight of Reno. Then she spotted Beatrice' rough portrait of Tseng and her face turned into a scarlet frown.

"What are you three talking about?" Sumire demanded practically throwing her groceries on the floor as she rushed to crumple the picture. She gave Rude a chilling glare.

"Su-Su likin'!" Beatrice sing songed.

"Don't just go assuming things!" Surmire shouted, pink faced. Reno grinned as he snaked the clean ash tray from where Rude always kept it to make for the balcony. "You know what! You two can just put these away! I'm going with Reno!" Sumire announced hotly.

"_Don't_ let me catch Sumire smoking, either of you," Rude instructed, leaning over the counter with a black stare.

"Shame on you," Reno gave Sumire a look like he was aghast. Sumire grabbed a tin from the pile of groceries and stuck her nose up before beating him to the balcony.

"About time for the moon festival," she passed him a moon cake with far more elaborate designs than the ones Kaede used to make by hand. Reno grinned at it as he lit up.

"You sure are gettin' pretty Sumire," he remarked and enjoyed her flattered smile.

"Womanizer," she shot at him affectionately.

"You're about done with schoolin' right?"

"Oh yes! Next spring I'll be set to begin work. I've already put out my applications to teach at some of the primary schools around the area so I can stay close to Rude and Beatrice," she nodded eagerly, her little hands clasped around her knees. "I don't know what I'd have done if you and Rude hadn't been there at Kaede's that day."

"I think Rude might have forgotten how to smile without you, Su-Su," Reno leaned back on the lounge chair, enjoying the sunlight. "You and Beatrice keep his soul right."

"Who keeps your soul right?" she propped her head on a delicate hand. Reno pursed his lips thoughtfully.

"Think it's right?" he looked over at her curiously. "You know more about us than Trixie. You think my soul's right?" It was Sumire's turn to think about it. She glanced inside and then snagged his Sol Sunburst for a puff. She returned it just as quickly.

"I don't think I could say but I know I love you," she smiled after a moment.

"You're a good kid," Reno grinned as he took an appreciative drag.

The back door slid open and both of them turned towards Rude. The levity in their expressions faded as Rude stood between them with his phone stuck to his ear.

"We'll be there," he nodded and flipped the cell shut. "Sorry Sumire. Can you watch Beatrice?"

"Sure," Sumire nodded, knowing better than to ask. Reno swung up to follow but managed to leave two cigarettes for Sumire. She'd started a year ago when Rude had almost been killed in one of their operations. They'd spent that night pacing the hall outside the ER together and decimating a pack of his Sol Sunbursts.

Beatrice gave them each a worried hug and locked the door after them. Reno didn't ask anything until they were in the car driving towards the looming Shin-Ra building at the very center of the Midgar plates. Both of them were in their casual clothing while Rude selected a spare set of sunglasses from their home over the rearview mirror.

"So?" Reno prompted.

"Disturbance down in research. Trouble with the Deep Ground unit."

"Seems like Midgar's on edge lately," Reno looked out the windows. "Like something big's gonna happen."

"Bigger than before," Rude agreed, refraining from listing the unimaginable events they'd played their parts in. Reno wondered sometimes if they'd have survived if they hadn't been born biting and clawing in the slums.

Rude swung into a parking space with expert control that Reno would call reckless abandon in anyone else. They hopped out of the car, popped the trunk to take a spare night stick, Rude's gloves, and a handful of Materia before taking the elevator down to the upper levels of research.

The tumult in the lower levels of R & D vibrated up through the floor. Reno wondered what monsters lurked in the deepest cells where even his clearance didn't reach. Tseng was standing amidst a knot of frightened lab coats and some fresh faced SOLDIERs. They bore the insignia for first class but Reno hadn't seen a first class SOLDIER since Sephiroth, Angeal and Genesis. These others were peanuts.

"Its Rosso," Hojo's voice grated on Reno's ears. He unwrapped a sucker and popped it into his mouth. "Is the woman nearby?"

"She's been alerted," Tseng replied coolly. Reno could only assume Hojo was referencing Lyn. Nobody else could evoke such open hostility on the snakey professor.

"Yo boss," Reno called.

"Better time than usual," Tseng glanced at his watch. "Lyn's the closest one to qualified to handle this situation but there are non-combatants caught down there. I'll handle the evacuation if you can just get down there to Rosso and buy time until Lyn gets here."

"Where's Weiss?" Rude asked.

"He's been dispatched on work for the President," Hojo answered.

"I'll join you once I've made sure the evacuation has gone through," Tseng finished just as blond, bob-cut Elena skid into the room in sweat soaked exercise clothes. Her shoulder holster was the only thing properly connected. "Elena, with me. We're on evac."

"Sir!" she nodded.

"I'll do what I can to restrict Rosso's movements," Hojo passed out communicators based of Mullaney's original designs in the war. Reno and Rude hooked them on before plunging through the opened door.

Inside the halls were white washed and eerily silent. Reno and Rude moved swiftly according to Hojo's directions, avoiding elevators and descending four levels until they heard a woman's hysterical laughter somewhere halls away. Reno almost flinched as they slowed their pace and made for it, both of their hearts thumping loudly.

Rosso the Crimson, a member of Deep Ground and stark, raving mad. Reno wasn't cleared to know the ins and outs but he'd seen her in action a few times before. Weiss was the leader of her elite unit known as the Tsviets and usually handled such outbursts. Reno had worked with Weiss before and respected his abilities though he still doubted they could match up to Sephiroth. Still he was more than enough to calm Rosso, the other members of the Tsviets unconcerned with her outbursts unless directed by Weiss. It was agreed amidst the Turks this was a dangerous cell but they were some of Hojo's favorite pets since Sephiroth had gone and the President found them useful.

"Rosso my love," Reno announced as he emerged into the room where she was ravaging one of the poor guards. Well, she was ravaging a piece of a poor guard. "You really are breathtaking." This was wasn't a lie except that he meant it in the context of horrifying.

Tall, lean, pale skinned with hair a deeper red than his she smiled at him. Madness twinkled in her bloodthirsty eyes. She stood up straight, flicking the edges of her double sword to clean them of blood and spatter the walls around them.

"Come to play have you? We're going to play Turk?" she took a few steps forward. Reno leaned his night stick on a shoulder as he sauntered into the room, avoiding the red puddles of less fortunate men.

"I simply missed you," Reno smiled wide, hoping she couldn't feel his revulsion from across the room. Rosso laughed as she shifted her feet so she could more easily spring towards him.

"Then prove it! Prove it! I love the slaughter!" she cheered. Reno barely had time to bring the night stick into the right place to block. Rude caught her with a solid blow to the ribs and she danced back as they huddled together. She almost screamed laughter. "Oh yes! Oh yes this will be fun!"

"Sometimes that charm works against you," Lyn sighed from the doorway. Three sets of eyes turned to her leaning against the frame with her Birkenstocks crossed and dressed in knee length shorts and a white linen button down. By the look of it she'd barely gotten off a transport from Costa del Sol. The old burn marks of Ifrit's prayer beads rippled across her forearm as she flicked a cigarette to fizzle out in a nearby puddle of body fluid. "Rosso, you're startin' to get on my nerves girl."

"Ah, the lady returns at long last. Its been so long too but I remember you. We had fun together that time, there in the sunshine." Rosso flipped her double ended swords again in delight. "Lets have some fun Lyn. Let's play a game like we did then. Think you can win this time?"

"One sec doll," she unsheathed her broad sword and put her back to Rosso. "Red, you lock this room down. Rude find me Nero the Sable. He's sulkin' somewhere close no doubt."

"I'll help," Reno shook his head. Lyn smirked, throwing her arms around each of their shoulders as if perhaps she was considering another plan. Just as suddenly she shoved them through the door and slammed the butt of her broad sword into the control panel. The door closed with a resounding thud.

"Lyn!" they chorused, clawing at the door.

"So then Rosso. Lets play," Lyn was smiling on the other side.

"Dammit!" Reno bellowed as he reached for the control panel. Sparks burned his hands as he tore it apart and reached in to try and override the circuits. "Rude look for Nero! He doesn't need to use the door!"

"On it," Rude bolted, his face pale.

On the other side of the door Reno listened to the clash of metal and practically felt the bodies striking the floor resonating in his marrow. He worked frantically to open the door, desperate to get inside and assist. Rosso cackled and a few times he heard Lyn snort as if she too were amused.

"I've rerouted the power. You should have enough now," Hojo said as if from a dream. Reno finished splicing the wires and jammed in a code. The door pulled back.

Nero the Sable with his powers over the void had distorted the room into dark shadows that seemed to drip from the ceiling and roll down the walls, simmering across the floor. His bound arms and sealed mouth coupled with the skeletal framework of metal wings made him terrifying without his control over the void. Lyn had disarmed Rosso with a sandaled foot on the pale woman's throat. Rosso lay smiling up at her with insane reverence, like they really were playing a game and she was ready for the next round.

"Momma's here Nero. Your momma's come to visit," Rosso cackled. Nero's eyes narrowed as bands of darkness wrapped around Rosso. Lyn stepped back and braced on her knees panting. Her clothing was ruined and her hair had blotches of blood, presumably from falls since she seemed unscathed but for the wear of the fight.

"Get her situated Nero. You keep her in line while Weiss is gone," Lyn stood up as Reno tried to wrap his mind around what Rosso was babbling. Nero threw an unreadable look at her and his eyes shot to Reno and Rude who had just returned to the scene, both of them flanking Lyn. Reno felt the jerk as he sank into the floor up to his knees. Rosso started giggling as he and Rude were rendered helpless, stuck to the spot. Lyn squared her shoulders and faced Nero, her knuckles closing tightly around the hilt of her broad sword.

"Do you plan to hit me with it?" he spoke despite the binding over his mouth. "Would that make us even? Would it change things?"

"Let 'em go boy. Job's done. We're leaving."

Instead Reno and Rude sank up to their waists. All the thrashing in the world couldn't release them though they tried. Reno could see Rosso squirming too.

"No." Nero replied simply as his eyes glinted. The muscles in Lyn's jaw stood out. Rather than strike him though she put a hand on the side of his cheek. This took Nero aback.

"Please," she looked up at him.

"Are they so important?" Nero snarled jerking Reno and Rude deeper into the void. The visceral reaction gave Rosso the seconds she needed to be free. She sprang up, grasped her sword, and shot towards them. Lyn barely had time to shove Nero aside and step between Rude and Rosso. The power in Rosso's blow chipped Lyn's broad sword and set her off balance. Rosso shrieked in glee as the other edge of her sword followed through.

Lyn dropped in a writhing heap as blood soaked through the entirety of her shirt in a handful of seconds to pool around her. Reno was screaming, he was sure of it as Nero released he and Rude. Lyn groped for her sword and twisted to avoid Rosso's impaling stab. She swung blindly and caught the flat edge against the side of Rosso's face. The broad sword snapped where the chip had been and Rosso fell back into Nero's eveloping shadows. He stood staring at Lyn on the ground, blood pouring out of her and gushing up through her teeth.

"Lock 'er..." Lyn choked. "'Fore wakes..."

Nero closed his eyes and sank into the floor with Rosso.

"Lyn! Lyn hang on! We can get help!" Reno insisted as Rude tried to lift her. She groaned as her eyes rolled back in her head. "Then wait! I'll get help!" One of her hands hooked around his neck as he moved to leave.

"S-stay," she insisted, reaching for Rude too. She pulled their heads towards hers as she grimaced. "Proud...you two...proud..."

"No Lyn," Rude shook his head. "Can't say that yet."

"Only at the end yo," Reno whispered. Lyn smirked, her grip adjusting on them both.

"Paira...aces. Proud...yo," she tried to smile looking between them. Reno didn't know what else to do so he kissed her forehead. They pulled her into a semi seated position, supporting her between them. She hung on for the last few seconds before her last breath finally escaped and the room fell silent.


	46. Epilogue 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the FFVII characters, places, etc.

Epilogue 2: Pair of Aces

Verdot got the call sometime in the wee hours of the morning. He rubbed his eyes and answered the phone, wary of the blocked number but knowing only a select few people had access to his location.

"Lyn's been killed."

"What?" Verdot was immediately awake.

"She died this afternoon trying to subdue Rosso the Crimson. Rosso, Nero, and Weiss have all been sealed up within Reactor 0. The President will not have them disposed of on Hojo's insistence a method of control can indeed be devised." Tseng sounded angry. His voice almost shook. Verdot fell back on his bed and lay staring at the ceiling as his heart ached. He'd known Lyn over thirty years. Just a day ago she was sitting on his back porch smoking and chortling about the old days and recent happenings over scotch. "Verdot?"

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking about her," he said. He'd lost comrades before. He'd lost friends before. But this hurt like family.

"I'm sending Reno and Rude to you with her ashes. You need to tell them about her. They need the closure," Tseng added before Verdot could open his mouth. "I don't know whatever her secrets were beyond a handful of reports I'm not even technically supposed to know about but they need to. She was extremely important to them."

"Yes, I know," Verdot nodded with a heavy sigh. "Send them along."

By mid morning his daughter Felicia came to get him from the porch watching the ocean. He followed her the the front door where he saw Reno and Rude dressed like tourists in shorts and islander t-shirts made of silk. But that's where the tourist ended. They trudged like pall bearers, both of them pale and under slept. Rude had their things slung over one big shoulder as Reno carried a wooden box, a spent cigarette hanging out of his teeth.

"I'll set out the scotch," Felicia remarked. Verdot shot her a crooked smile and brushed a hand through her auburn hair. He gave her forehead a kiss before she departed. Verdot held the door for the silent Turks.

"Nice digs yo," Reno mustered a pitiable smile. Verdot set a hand on the back of Reno's neck and pushed him further inside.

"Set your bags down and lets go to the porch," he instructed. They obeyed mutely and slumped into chairs Felicia provided in surprising thoughtfulness.

"Hey elf girl," Reno shot her another half smile. "Sun agrees with you." Dressed in a skirt and bare sleeves she made the perfect windswept island girl, all tan limbs with an easy stride.

"Sorry about your friend," she said, looking between the two of them. The duo looked sullenly at their drinks. Felicia took the butt of Reno's old cigarette out of his lips and set a lighter on the table. "I'll think about something for dinner dad."

"Thanks," he nodded. She went inside after throwing a worried glance at them again. The box of Lyn's ashes dominated everyone's concentration for a long time.

"Tseng sent you here so I could offer you answers," Verdot said at last. Reno and Rude looked up in mutual surprise.

"He said we were just delivering ashes," Reno rebutted in disbelief. Verdot touched the box with a crooked smile.

"If there was ever anyone that should handle her ashes it would be you two," he shook his head. Reno rubbed his forehead as Rude leaned forward to brace on his knees. "A drink to her first and I'll tell you what you want to know." They lifted their glasses and downed them. Verdot poured another round as he hunted for a starting place.

"The Corsiggs," Rude prompted.

"Ailynetta Endroth Corsigg," Verdot sighed the elaborate name, appreciating the feel of it again after all these years. "She was the fifth child, second daughter, of House Corsigg's head family. She outstripped her family in skill, leaving her brothers in the dust and winning honor for her house in the service of the Bjorns. She was a favorite of the Bjorns for both her skill and her beauty. Back then you see she had long, black curls and dressed to her figure in silk and velvet on formal occasions. She was young the first time I saw her, barely fourteen on the arm of King Bjorn at her coming of age ball and she laughed and danced and told...terrible jokes. They weren't funny but I remember people laughing because she thought they were funny."

"Lyn?" Reno asked. "We came about Lyn."

"That's who she was Reno," Verdot assured him. "She was beautiful and bright, just a fourteen year old girl. That was the same year a very young President took his wife from house Bjorn so his father, the previous president, could establish legitimacy and create the foundations of today's Shin-Ra Electric. That was the only time I ever saw Lyn that way. By the time we met again she was what she's been ever since."

"What happened?" Rude reminded him when Verdot seemed to get lost thinking of little Lyn all in purple with her hair bouncing around her shoulders as she spun and dipped in dance.

"She never said it directly but the King was very, _very_ fond of her and the Corsiggs served without question any command given. The next time I saw Lyn was after Helen Bjorn deserted our President and fled with Cassilia into the slums with her lover. In order to resolve a dispute of Shin-Ra's legitemacy to its holdings on Bjorn assets the order was given to exterminate the Bjorns and the Corsiggs outright. When we came to complete the mission, all we found was Lyn. She had intercepted the orders and done the deed for us..."

Rude and Reno sat in silence absorbing this as Verdot thought of her sitting against the studded, high backed chair with her broad sword in the tatters of her rose colored gown. She looked like a war goddess in her hall of slaughter, waiting for them with a smile and a smoking cigar. Verdot remembered how beautiful and terrible she'd been, how chillingly magnetic as she invited them to look for survivors and asked him to sit.

"I asked her why and she answered that her need to kill them coincided with her own. I was young then, recently married with a very small daughter of my own so perhaps there was some need in me to offer her help, to look for the girl I'd seen four years ago. So I offered her a position within the Turks pending her ability to prove herself. I suspect she hadn't thought so far ahead and she agreed without much hesitation. As a junior Turk myself I had no authority and the pair of us cracked up a scheme that would beg forgiveness rather than permission. I took her to Hojo who was dabbling in genetic experiments for super soldiers, Sephiroth and the beginnings of SOLDIER."

"Lyn didn't have any kind of Mako treatment though..." Reno frowned.

"It took me three years to clear her. Hojo ran unchecked then, the President's favorite. For three years Lyn was at his mercy and I have no real knowledge of exactly what he did to her. She's not much for explaining the dark chapters."

Reno and Rude both slumped back with ironic smiles. They looked between each other.

"She said once she had Hojo in a 'vice'. In the Deep Ground facility Rosso referred to her as Nero's mother," Reno ran a hand through his hair and looked towards the sea. Verdot leaned over the table as his guts twisted. He stared at his scotch as the implications sunk in.

"Weiss is Nero's elder brother..." he rubbed the back of his neck. For a long time it was only the waves the crashed on the shore and gulls that made conversation. "That was when she truly changed. The trauma of those events bleached her hair and I never saw kindness in her face again. I've heard tell that Nero's powers manifested and submerged his mother in darkness after birth. Of course it was Lyn. Of course she clawed her way back out of the void."

"And the rest as they say is history," Reno stood up. He paced into the sand and buried his feet in it. Rude threw back his drink before crossing his arms and losing himself to the horizon, somewhere out where the sea and sky blurred.

After a long time Verdot lifted the box of ashes. Reno and Rude silently flanked him as they made for the shore. They had a moment of silence before Verdot peeled the lid open and Lyn's pale ashes leaped up into the sky. They scattered almost instantly, three men in shorts and tropical silk shirts bidding silent farewell.

Reno and Rude stayed two days on sabbatical as some of their temperament returned. They went shopping with tacit Felicia for the sake of activity and came to dinner and cards with Verdot in the evenings with leather skinned fishermen and sugar farmers. Sometime on the third day Rude got a call from Tseng about an attack on one of the Mako Reactors in Midgar. They packed their things without much fuss and thanked Verdot and Felicia for their hospitality.

"Just a moment," Verdot halted them. He went into his study and pulled aside the book case. He only kept a handful of items that could ever tie him to the Shin-Ra in a safe. Spinning the dusty dial for the second time since it had been installed the safe swung open silently and he sifted through photographs with curled edges. He returned with one of them after closing and concealing the safe once more.

"Its not her the way you knew her," he extended the page sized photo of a living room taken during surveillance of the Corsigg house. Reno jammed his hands in his pockets like he was terrified he'd break it so Rude accepted and held it so they could both see.

There were a number of people gathered, some of them playing cards, a woman at a piano, but there in the center was a girl in a Turk blue gown with wild black curls falling around her. She was sprawled across a rug with her head propped in her hands and her ankles up and crossed exposing her calves. Spread before her was an over sized atlas but her face was turned to look at the camera, staring directly into the lens, and she was smiling. Nobody else seemed to be paying attention but Lyn knew about the Turk hiding in the air ducts photographing them. It was zoomed in enough to make out her features, to definitely see young Lyn with her sharp cheeks and razor edged jaw, the amber color of her eyes and the glint of cunning.

"She was a babe!" Reno shattered the silence, grasping Rude's wrist the closest he came to touching it. "Our Lyn was a babe yo!"

"Take it," Verdot insisted. Rude looked up like he hadn't heard right. "All she'll do is fade in my safe. You two have desks now don't you? Put her there. It would amuse her." Rude put down his suit case and carefully packed the photograph like the most valuable thing they possessed.

"Thanks boss," Reno smiled. Verdot could see Reno at sixteen again, lean and full of fight, enough of him left to laugh.

"Thank you," Rude agreed as his face eased. "It was good to see you."

"Livin' the sweet life while we sweat and grunt," Reno complained. Verdot smiled.

"Isn't there a Reactor explosion you need to look into?" he reminded them.

"A reactor's blown?" Felicia stuck her head out of the kitchen.

"Its not our concern now," Verdot reminded her sharply. "Look after yourselves."

The pair of them departed with Reno full of chatter again and Rude's strides loosening. Verdot shook his head and closed the door. He returned to the back porch and sat facing the sea.

"_How did you know?" Verdot demanded later that night after issuing Reno and Rude a promotion. "How did you know those two could do it? I wouldn't have picked them out of any lineup in the slums." It was getting late and Lyn was smoking thoughtfully at the edge of camp._

"_Gut instinct," Lyn shrugged dismissively. Verdot sat down next to her in disbelief. By all odds these two should have wound up dead years ago._

"_It has to be something more. You've gambled everything on them, your life, your career, your very credibility with the _President_. If you'd been wrong even once he'd have ordered your execution immediately. He barely tolerates you no matter your record." _

"_Barring the fact that they won't ever fail you Verdot, I suppose it just boiled down to wantin' to believe in 'em. I dunno. Somethin' in me said they were mine when they were small. Somethin' said their lives were the only good I could ever do." Lyn sat a few minutes as Verdot was silent out of sheer awe. "Don't get me wrong Verdot. I know better than to think about something like redemption. That's not what Corsiggs or Turks or Shin-Ra or Bjorns are about. Its not something any of us could do. Hell, all I did was take 'em out of the slums and tell them to kill Woots for a good salary. Its the only thing I could give those boys, the only way I knew to give them a chance outside of chokin' to death in the slums. Does that even make sense?"_

_Lyn laughed and scratched the back of her head. She looked over at him with a trace of bashfulness because they were old friends and had done terrible things together. Verdot recognized love in her expression, the beautiful, damning love of the fallen. He laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. Her fingers slid over his and they gave it a few minutes before she stood up with a stretch._

"_They're my pair of aces Verdot. It makes me so proud sometimes I could die."_

* * *

__**Dedicated to Joe and Licoriceallsorts**

**A/N: **This is my homage to Final Fantasy VII, the story line that made me want to write. Thank you for your time and patience since 2007!


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